Improved putting has Trahan firing on all cylinders
By Bruce Berlet, Special to PGATOUR.com
CROMWELL, Conn. -- Folks are constantly looking for a legitimate challenger to Tiger Woods.
There have been a handful of pretenders for months at a time, but no one has stepped up long-term.
Now that the world No. 1 is on the shelf for the rest of the year because of pending knee surgery, candidates have an open shot at the throne.
For two weeks, at least, youngster D.J. Trahan appears willing to accept the challenge.
Trahan, who won his second PGA TOUR title in the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic in January, grinded his way to a tie for fourth in last week's U.S. Open, finishing three shots out of the Woods-Rocco Mediate playoff.
Showing that wasn't a fluke, Trahan shot an 8-under-par 62 on Saturday at the Travelers Championship, one off the course record and two under his previous career low on TOUR.
Trahan had eight birdies and grazed the cup from 35 feet on the last hole, or he would have tied the course record shared by Brad Faxon (fourth round, 2005), Scott Verplank (fourth, 2001), Phil Mickelson (third, 2001) and Kirk Triplett (third, 2000).
"I played excellent golf, definitely the best round I've played all year," Trahan said. "I felt really good over every putt. A lot of days, even when you play well, you don't feel good over all of them. But every time I stepped over a putt, I felt very, very comfortable.
"I've had a good feel for the greens all week. I just really truly burned the edge so much, especially the first two days. [Friday] I couldn't get a putt to go in. It's frustrating, but that's golf. I was making good putts and good strokes, but you just have to kind of take it with a grain of salt. I burned a few edges again today, but I finally saw some go in.
"It's one of those things on these greens that if you give yourself enough looks, you're eventually going to make some putts, and I finally did that."
But Trahan didn't put that much pressure on his putter. His only birdie putt longer than six feet was an 11-footer at No. 1. The longest putt he made was from 17 feet for par at No. 16.
Trahan, who just made the 3-under 137 cut, admitted the magical 59 popped in his head.
"Absolutely," he said. "I played well enough to break 60. It's out there. There's a lot of low scores to be shot out there. That's why I don't feel like I'll be that near the lead at the end of the day. Without the wind, the course is very vulnerable for low scores."
Still, Trahan was happy to be back in title contention after a trying week at Torrey Pines last week in the U.S. Open.
"When you make the cut on the number, you're not thinking about winning," Trahan said. "But you go out and shoot a number like that on Saturday and then shoot another lights-out round, you never know what can happen."
Trahan had a stellar amateur career, winning the 2000 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship to qualify for the 2001 Masters. He also played on the 2001 U.S. Walker Cup team and 2002 World Amateur Team Championship and was a member of the 2003 Clemson team that won the school's first NCAA championship before he turned pro.
After being named an All-ACC selection for the fourth time and an All-American for the first time, Trahan played six PGA TOUR events in 2003 and made one cut, finishing in a tie for 71st in the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands.
Trahan played the Nationwide Tour in 2004, then earned his PGA TOUR card and had three top-10s a year later. Then he won the Southern Farm Bureau Classic in the fall of 2006, defeating Joe Durant on the third playoff hole.
Trahan stagnated in 2007, but he shot a closing 65 to overtake Justin Leonard and win the 2008 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic by three. However, in his next 14 starts, he missed four cuts and didn't finish better than a tie for 17th in the Verizon Heritage.
And then came the U.S. Open, where Trahan finally got "the Achilles Heel of my career" in order.
"I was hyper-focused in the Open and got my game to another level," Trahan said. "I think you carry over good play every week regardless of where you play. Obviously, this course isn't anywhere near the setup at Torrey Pines, but all facets of my game are where they need to be.
"And I'm putting the best I ever have. I've worked real hard on it, and I feel if I continue to stroke it the way I'm stroking it now, I'll hopefully see a lot more good things out of myself. You can play well out here, but to score well, you've got to get the ball in the hole.
"With me, it's a question of getting the ball in the hole day in and day out. If you hit 15 or 16 greens and have 33 putts, well, guess what? All that good ball striking goes to waste. You've got to take advantage and make putts, and I'm starting to do that a lot more.
"I hadn't had many good finishes until last week, and it's all about making putts. I didn't do it the first two days here, but I did it today, and it makes all the difference in the world."
Trahan said he didn't play any more aggressively than the first two rounds, when he shot 67-70.
"The golf course didn't change, so why I should I change?" Trahan said.
But when asked what he was going to do after finishing at 12:20 p.m. ET, Trahan smiled and said, "I'll maybe practice a little and relax, but it's kind of easy to sit around after shooting 62."
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