So close: Bryson misses 6-footer, settles for 60

The Americans take a 7-5 lead into the final day of the Walker Cup. Cole Hammer and Ricky Castillo led the way by winning both their matches.

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DUBLIN, Ohio – Martin Kaymer had already won a PGA Championship and been world No. 1. He then won the PLAYERS Championship and, soon after, dominated the U.S. Open. But that was almost five years ago. And since then, it hasn’t been as good. Related: Leaderboard | Double bogey costs Tiger | Rose blooms on Friday The problem? Distractions. “I distract myself,â€� Kaymer said. “I listen too much to other people. And also a bit of belief. Sometimes you would think I won so many big tournaments I should have so much belief in myself that I can win any week. But that’s not the case because certain times you just feel like you’re not on your “A” game. “Sometimes it’s still enough to win, but at the moment or the last two years, I was just not there. I just didn’t believe that I could win the tournament that I’m playing.â€� And so, of late, Kaymer has spent most of his energy getting rid of distractions. That includes social media. It has helped him at Muirfield Village, where rounds of 67-68 has him at 9-under and tied for the 36-hole lead. The last time he held the 36-hole lead was the 2014 U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2, where he won by eight shots. “Just getting away from so many things, social media, watching TV, reading stuff that is not important. What do you really gain from social media during tournament days? There’s so much gossip, so much talk, so much distraction,â€� he explained. “And I just got out of that. I just didn’t want to read that because there’s nothing really to gain from it. And that was a big one for me… It’s just distraction, stimulation for your brain, just not thinking, not being there. “So I tried to get away from that. And that automatically makes you more aware, makes me more conscious, and I think leads to more calmness, I guess. It helped me.â€� The calmness has certainly transferred to his putting this week. Kaymer has needed just 25 and 26 putts, respectively, over two rounds. He ranks second in Strokes Gained: Putting. It has him feeling old feels all over again. “You’re excited to be in position again. You worked quite hard over the last few years, and you want to feel that excitement of playing one of the last groups,â€� Kaymer adds. “And who knows what happens by Sunday afternoon, if I’m still up there or not. But I’m very pleased right now that I put myself in that position, especially with that summer coming up, knowing and proving to myself that I have it in me right now; that I don’t need to work on something special right now. I just need to play the game.â€� Kaymer uses old visions of himself to also get in the mood. He wants to remember the winning feeling. It’s a feeling where, if he gets it again, he will act differently. “I just need to visualize the success more often that I had to really let it sink in. Because I’m not the guy who celebrates a lot, which I think is a little bit of a mistake,â€� he says. “Because you don’t know the value of the win, if you see everything the same. If you just move on and move on, you try to go from one tournament to another and you continue doing that, but you need to pull yourself out, maybe celebrate, however the celebration looks like. “It doesn’t need to be going to Vegas and get drunk, but you need to celebrate the win, the resolve, the effort. You need to give credit to yourself, and I never did. So whenever the next win will come, I know what to do different.â€� Come Sunday, we might see what that celebration looks like.

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DUBLIN, Ohio — Jason Dufner wanted to put together more than just a few good rounds this week at the Memorial. The first two put him in the record book. Dufner holed out from 176 yards on the 18th hole for an eagle, and then added three more birdies on the front nine at Muirfield Village for another 7-under 65. That put him at 130 and gave him the 36-hole scoring record at the Memorial. Scott Hoch in 1987 and Rickie Fowler in 2010 previously shared the record at 13-under 131. Neither went on to win the tournament. Dufner had a six-shot lead over Fowler when he finished, and then had to wait to see what kind of margin he would have going into the weekend. He played Friday morning in warm, sunny and pristine scoring condition on greens that are pure as any on the PGA TOUR. Jordan Spieth, one shot behind Dufner after the opening round, was among those playing in the afternoon. The shot that got the most attention was Dufner’s 6-iron that he holed on No. 18 for his eagle. With a back left pin, the shot fit what he was trying to do, and he said the bonus was that it found the bottom of the cup. The key to his great play was his putting, something Dufner rarely says. When asked about it at Kapalua to start the year, Dufner said: “I’ve been putting bad for 17 years. It’s tough to change.” He managed with the help of a friend who sent him some research from a doctor who works with snipers in the Marines, and how they focus primarily on their breathing and their heartbeats. Dufner found his worst trait in putting was not having a consistent routine and getting too fast, almost as if he wanted to get it over with quickly. “I think the one thing that also helps is it gives me something to think about other than my stroke or holing this putt or the situation I’m in,” Dufner said. “Subconsciously, I’m just putting. But I’m more focused on my breathing and I’m at with that.” He said the goal presumably is to keep his heartbeat low, a real challenge for a guy who barely has a pulse in the first place. “I’ve never had anybody measure it,” he said. “But I know that there’s been times with my putting that the thought process and my actions have felt like they’ve been sped up and too quick. And I’m trying to slow down and focus on that breathing. It’s been working. I’ve been using it all year. This is the first time I’ve said anything about it. Some days I’m better with it than others. You think it would be pretty easy to be consistent with that, but some days it’s not.” Fowler started the tournament with a triple bogey on his second hole and he was 3 over through four holes when he turned it around Thursday for a 70. He was back out Friday morning and shot 66 and walked off the course the closest player to Dufner, even if it wasn’t very close. Fowler and Dufner lived under the same roof during the winter months when Dufner came down to Alabama to play some golf. They are good friends with personalities as different as hard rock and easy listening. “We got to spend a decent amount of time together and that was fun,” Fowler said. “He’s one of a kind. He’s one of the best guys I know out here. … Because he’s fairly quiet on the course, you don’t get to really see who he is as a person. He’s one of the funniest guys out here, too. But fan-wise you wouldn’t really see that. The way he carries himself is pretty chill and mellow.” He very quietly took only 130 shots over two days. Dufner, who grew up in northern Ohio, missed the cut the first two times he played Muirfield Village. He skipped the next three chances at the Memorial, but didn’t have a choice in 2013 when he won the PGA Championship and earned a spot in the Presidents Cup that was held on the course Jack Nicklaus built. Dufner spent that week asking his teammates how they played the course. Dufner posted a 3-1 record that week, and when he returned to the Memorial in 2014, he was at par or better over his next six rounds. He still doesn’t have a top 10, but he has figured something out. He would need a 67 to break the 54-hole record set by Hoch in 1987. Posting one low score after another is never easy, and Dufner isn’t sure what to expect Saturday.

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