Steve Keating Jason Dufner is that guy who got caught on camera slumped against a classroom wall,gazing straight ahead with a blank stare,arms rigidly by his side. "Dufnering," they called it and he became an Internet sensation. Maybe by the time he leaves Oak Hill,Dufner will be known as something else. Major champion. On Friday,Dufner came up about 18 inches short of a feat that's never been done shooting 62 in a major championship. As it was,he tied the scoring record with a 7-under 63 that pushed him to the lead midway through the PGA Championship. "To join history,to shoot 63 in a major,that's pretty unbelievable," Dufner said. "To be leading the tournament,even better." He headed to the weekend with a two-stroke edge over Adam Scott,Jim Furyk and Matt Kuchar,while eight other players were lurking within five shots of the lead. Tiger Woods was nowhere close. After two mediocre rounds in prime scoring conditions,he began Saturday 10 shots behind and promptly made bogeys at the first and third holes on a warm,sunny day in western New York. For Dufner,this is a chance to shake off the low point of his pro career,when he squandered a four-stroke lead with four holes to play at the 2011 PGA in Atlanta. There weren't many mistakes on Friday. Dufner holed out from the fairway for eagle,rolled in a putt across the green for par and kept making birdies five in all until he stood 12 feet away from a shot at the lowest score in 153 years of championship golf. He didn't give it a chance,acknowledging a case of the nerves for the first time all day. Not even the tap-in for par was a gimme,the ball coming off the putter weakly before diving into the right corner of the cup. Dufner didn't feel disappointed for long. At rain-softened Oak Hill,where pelt-sized divots were flying and birdies were falling,Dufner tied the 36-hole record (9-under 131) at the PGA,a mark he now shares with six other players. His 63 broke the course record at Oak Hill held by Ben Hogan,Curtis Strange and Webb Simpson,who shot 64 about five hours earlier. Dufner became the 24th player to shoot 63 in a major Greg Norman and Vijay Singh,both in the Hall of Fame,did it twice. Friday began with three hours of steady rain until the sun broke through and took all the bite out of Oak Hill. When the second round finally ended,27 players remained under par this on a course that is stubborn when it comes to red numbers. In five previous majors at Oak Hill,only nine players have finished the tournament below par. Jack Nicklaus did it twice. For all the low scores,Woods and Phil Mickelson were left behind. On Friday,Woods exchanged birdies with bogeys during a poor putting round that led to a 70 and a 1-over 141 midway through the tournament. Mickelson's swing apparently went missing in the three weeks since he won the British Open. He was all over Oak Hill again on Saturday,making a triple-bogey at the seventh hole to drop 14 shots behind Dufner,who was still hours from teeing off. Dufner's popularity has grown since April,when someone took that photo of him during a charity event as the teacher taught children how to relax and concentrate. He embraced the craze,which seems to fit perfectly with his laidback approach. But there were nerves,no doubt,and Dufner showed them at the very end of the second round. "It's tough when you're chasing history," he said. "You will be the first one to do something. I don't think I've been the first to do anything in my life. So it was a little nerve-racking for a Friday. It's usually the pressure you might feel toward the end of the tournament." That part is still to come. Round three,ongoing: 1. Jason Dufner (yet to start),-9; T2. Adam Scot (yet to start),Matt Kuchar (yet to start),Jim Furyk (yet to start),-7; T5. Steve Stickler (through 2),Justin Rose (through 1),Henrik Stenson (through 1),-6; T29. Rory McIlroy (through 12),E; T53. Tiger Woods,+3; 74. Phil Mickelson,+10.
