DUBLIN, Ohio — The only time Jason Dufner has made news all year is when details of his divorce were published in the spring.
He has a chance to change that in the next two days with a victory at the Memorial, where he enters the weekend one shot out of the lead at 11-under.
Perhaps a win on the golf course will ease Dufner’s loss off of it. Perhaps then his tale will turn from innuendo-laced gossip to feel-good comeback story.
Dufner — who earlier this year split with his wife of two-plus years, Amanda — followed his opening-round 66 with a 67 on Friday that included a hole-in-one, and is one shot behind leader David Lingmerth.
Two more rounds like that, on Saturday and Sunday, could — and probably will — give Dufner his first win since his 2013 PGA Championship triumph, and it might even evoke some emotion out of his flatlining personality.
Since the split with his wife, Dufner has been more publicly withdrawn and mopey than he always has been — a personal characteristic of his that spawned the popular “Dufnering’’ social-media craze two years ago.
Largely because of a neck injury last year and his broken marriage this year, Dufner has not been the same player that won that PGA Championship. He has avoided speaking to reporters this year the way players avoid talking about the shanks.
After his 66 on Thursday had him two shots off the lead at Muirfield Village, Dufner declined to speak to reporters, acquiescing only to give a PGA Tour official a short reaction to his round.
On Friday, after his 67 inched him even closer to the lead, Dufner agreed to speak to reporters — but only the local media, declining to take any questions from national reporters.
The backstory: Dufner apparently is miffed at one national reporter who obtained his divorce records (which are public record) and published the financial details. For that, Dufner apparently is attempting to punish everyone else with a pad and pen in hand.
Yet all he’s accomplishing is drawing more attention to his off-course problems, a concession of sorts that they have affected his play.
The focus Friday should have been all about Dufner’s electrifying second round, during which he went on a birdie-eagle-eagle tear, climaxed by a hole-in-one on the 201-yard par-3 16th.
“I hit a 6-‑iron and I hit it pretty good and it looked pretty good from my vantage point,’’ Dufner said matter-of-factly.
Asked if he ever has had a better stretch of golf than that, Dufner said, “No, 5-‑under through three [holes] is probably the best I’ve ever done.’’
Dufner, who began on the 10th hole Friday, was 1-over through his first four holes before a birdie on No. 14, an eagle on No. 15 and the hole-out on 16 flipped everything.
“Five-under for three [holes] is pretty good,’’ said Jim Furyk, who was paired with Dufner. “I’ve never seen six [under through three], so that’s as good as I’ve ever seen.’’
The ace was Dufner’s first hole-in-one in PGA Tour competition.
“I needed to get back; I was kind of trending the wrong way,’’ Dufner said. “[I] hit a pretty good shot on 14, great shot on 15 [and] kind of got the day going.’’
If Dufner emerges as the winner on Sunday, it will be interesting to see how he handles the media based on his reticence so far this year. Traditionally, the tournament winner is brought into the media center to be interviewed. The champion sits on the dais next to the tournament host, Jack Nicklaus.
It’s not likely Dufner would blow that off.