LA QUINTA, Calif. — There’s something about Palm Springs that seems to bring out the best in Jason Dufner. Before last year’s CareerBuilder Challenge, PGA West’s Stadium Course held special memories for Dufner as the site of his final trip through PGA TOUR Qualifying School in 2008. Playing a two-course rotation between the Stadium Course and Jack Nicklaus Tournament Course, Dufner finished T11 to regain his card. “(Qualifying School) can be a mess for some,” Dufner said. “But my life is definitely in a better place now that I don’t have to go to Q-School anymore.” Dufner made new memories last season on the Stadium Course, closing out his first title since the 2013 PGA Championship at the CareerBuilder Challenge. His week was highlighted by an all-world up-and-down from the rocks on the par-3 17th island green — known as Alcatraz — to force a playoff with David Lingmerth that he would eventually win on the second hole. “A lot of good things have kind of come in these couple hundred acres right around here in my career,” Dufner said. “So it’s always comfortable. And winning an event, you feel like you can play these courses well and it gives you a lot of confidence going into this week.” Dufner is hoping that confidence carries over to this week. Following a two-year stretch that saw Dufner deal with a neck injury and record just six top-10 finishes in 38 starts, things finally started to click at the beginning of the 2015-16 season. Dufner picked up back-to-back top 10s at The RSM Classic and Sony Open in Hawaii and then won his fourth TOUR title in the Coachella Valley. It was the beginning of a season that culminated with six top 10s and his first trip to the TOUR Championship since 2013. “I remember how well I was playing at the point time last year,” Dufner said. “So that gives me a lot of confidence, knowing that I’m comfortable with a course, that my game was in good form, and then just that break. You need those breaks sometimes.”
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