Learning to Win Part 2

Don’t say you weren’t warned…

Just two weeks after Jason Dufner’s maiden tour win, he pops up again, winning the Byron Nelson tournament on the PGA Tour. For those previous non-followers, I give you this quote from a previous blog of mine:

He was learning how to win.

Padriag Harrington had to learn how to win. Now he has three majors under his belt. Bubba has just learned how to win. Tiger just happened to know how to win. The rest of them will just have to learn too.

This is why I think Dufner’s win last night could be the first of many. He isn’t teeing it up at the Wells Fargo Championship this weekend, but I’ve circled his name on some of the bigger betting events next month. Watch out world, a very talented golfer now knows how to win.

Lo and behold up he pops again. Since then an even more pronounced non-frequent winner has learnt how to win at an even bigger tournament – The Players Championship. His name is Matt Kuchar.

Both Kuchar and Dufner have been playing in a lot of tournaments recently and may need some rest soon. Don’t expect them both to win every tournament they enter but, at the next big tournament, keep these guys near the top of your shortlist.

Pep Guardiola recently spoke of how Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi dine at a different table to everyone else. At the moment in golf the ‘top table’ that used to be reserved for Woods alone is empty; the next best table has many diners and not just Mickelson, Woods, McIlroy, Westwood and Donald.

There is a logjam in golf at the moment and these players who have just learnt to win can be just as dangerous (and available at better prices) as many of the games superstars who have known how to win for a long time.