x
Skip to main content
Golf Logo
InsideGolf Join Now  / Log In
‘Psychopaths’: The hilarious reason Jason Dufner won’t become a swing coach
SHARE
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share by Email
Golf Logo
  • News
    • Latest
      • News
      • Features
      • Shows
      • PGA Tour Schedule
    • Series
      • Tour Confidential
      • Monday Finish
      • Hot Mic
      • Rogers Report
    • Shows
      • The Scoop
      • Subpar
      • Seen & Heard
  • Instruction
    • Game Improvement
      • Driving
      • Approach Shots
      • Bunker Shots
      • Short Game
      • Putting
      • Rules
      • Fitness
    • Series
      • Top 100 Teachers
      • Rules Guy
      • The Etiquetteist
    • Shows
      • Warming Up
      • Play Smart
      • Short Game Chef
      • Pros Teaching Joes
  • Gear
    • Clubs
      • Drivers
      • Irons
      • Hybrids
      • Fairway Woods
      • Wedges
      • Putters
    • Other Gear
      • Balls
      • Shoes
      • Apparel
      • Golf Accessories
    • Series
      • ClubTest
      • Winner’s Bag
    • Shows
      • Fully Equipped
  • Travel & Lifestyle
    • Travel
      • Course Finder
      • Courses
      • Resorts
    • Lifestyle
      • Accessories
      • Celebrities
      • Food
      • Style
      • Betting Advice
    • Shows
      • Super Secrets
      • Destination Golf
  • Shop
    • Shop
      • Clubs
      • Shafts
      • Training Aids
      • Balls
      • Bags
      • Technology
      • Apparel
      • Accessories
      • Our Picks
      • Shop All
    • Collections
      • The GOLF Collection
      • The Birdie Juice Collection
      • The Fully Equipped Collection
      • Shop All
  • Newsletters
    • Sign Up for GOLF’s Newsletters
      • Hot Mic
      • Monday Finish
      • Play Smart
      • Our Picks
      • Top Stories
      • Sign Up for All
  • News
    • Latest News
    • Features
    • Shows
    • PGA Tour Schedule
  • Instruction
    • All Instruction
    • Driving
    • Approach Shots
    • Bunker Shots
    • Short Game
    • Putting
    • Rules
    • Fitness
  • Gear
    • All Gear
    • Drivers
    • Irons
    • Hybrids
    • Fairway Woods
    • Wedges
    • Putters
    • Balls
    • Shoes
    • Apparel
    • Golf Accessories
  • Travel & Lifestyle
    • All Travel
    • All Lifestyle
    • Course Finder
    • Courses
    • Resorts
    • Accessories
    • Celebrities
    • Food
    • Style
    • Betting Advice
  • Series
    • Tour Confidential
    • Monday Finish
    • Hot Mic
    • Rogers Report
    • Rules Guy
    • The Etiquetteist
    • ClubTest
    • Winner’s Bag
  • Shows
    • The Scoop
    • Subpar
    • Seen & Heard
    • Warming Up
    • Play Smart
    • Short Game Chef
    • Pros Teaching Joes
    • Fully Equipped
    • Super Secrets
    • Destination Golf
  • Shop
    • Clubs
    • Shafts
    • Training Aids
    • Balls
    • Bags
    • Technology
    • Apparel
    • Accessories
    • The GOLF Collection
    • The Birdie Juice Collection
    • The Fully Equipped Collection
  • Newsletters
    • Hot Mic
    • Monday Finish
    • Play Smart
    • Top Stories
    • Our Picks
    • Sign Up for All
InsideGolf Join Now  / Log In
InsideGolf

Over $140 of value - Just $39.99

InsideGOLF
Instruction

‘Psychopaths’: The hilarious reason Jason Dufner won’t become a swing coach

By: Luke Kerr-Dineen
  • Follow on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Follow on Instagram
May 20, 2021
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share by Email

TLDR: Jason Dufner thinks PGA Tour players are too high-maintenance

Getty Images

KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. — If nothing else, Jason Dufner is self-aware.

The 2013 PGA Championship winner has been a professional golfer for more than 20 years, and along the way has experienced every status: From struggling mini-tour player to high-flying major winner and Ryder Cupper.

Nowadays Dufner is playing the role of wily veteran who’s hanging on for a few more years, by his own admission: “I’m 44 years old,” Dufner said on Thursday. “I’m just trying to enjoy these last however many years I’m playing golf out here on the Tour and do the best that I can.”

And having seen it all seems to have given him some frank perspective.

News
Jason Dufner wedge
8 things I learned checking out major-winner Jason Dufner’s golf bag
By: Jonathan Wall

Dufner shot an impressive opening round 71, leaving him inside the top 10 after the morning wave. It’s a highpoint of his recent reunion with his previous longtime swing coach and GOLF Hall of Fame Teacher Chuck Cook, who returned to Dufner’s side last month.

“I had worked with him for a long period of time, kind of went away from him for a little bit and struggled,” he said. “Kind of kicking myself a little bit for that. I went to a guy that worked under Chuck for a long time, and I thought I would be okay, and it just didn’t work out.”

Dufner said his swing had gotten too shallow and around his body in recent years. It led to him blocking shots out to the right, and hitting high hooks — all of which result in a timing-dependent nightmare.

Jason Dufner would get stuck and flip with his hands. Getty Images

“When you get under the plane, the face is hard to stabilize,” he says. “If you get under, then you lean the shaft, that’s a lot of right bias, and then you’ve got to use your hands a lot, which I’m too old to do that now. My hand-eye coordination isn’t as good as it used to be.”

But Dufner is back on the right track, and hoping it sticks for 54 more holes at an event he once won. His focus nowadays is on ironing out the kinks in his swing, and waiting for the putter to get hot enough to cash checks.

Some onlookers may say its distance the 44-year-old — who ranks 185th in Driving Distance — lacks. Perhaps, Dufner says, but chasing it doesn’t offer him the slightest temptation. “Chasing length, changing your swing is a dangerous proposition,” he says. “You start chasing it with your driver, eventually it feeds into your irons, and now all of a sudden a lot of things have changed.”

Instruction
Woman on range
10 common swing mistakes I see golfers make on the range
By: Kellie Stenzel, Top 100 Teacher

Some wise words from a man whose knowledge of the golf swing is so deep that other players often seek him out for advice. All of which begs the question: Does a post-playing career in coaching beckon for Jason Dufner?

“No. Never”

It turns out, the high maintenance, high-reward lifestyle of coaching Tour players like himself just doesn’t appeal. And yes, he realizes the irony.

“Dealing with Tour players is a nightmare,” he says, smiling. “They’re psychopaths, man. That’s just a fact.”

Latest In Instruction

3 minutes ago

Why this common putting strategy is actually the 'worst advice in golf'

2 hours ago

The 4 keys for pitching off wet lies

5 hours ago

The nerdy tech behind Bryson DeChambeau’s resurgence

9 hours ago

Find the center of your stance for better contact with your irons

Luke Kerr-Dineen

Golf.com Contributor

Luke Kerr-Dineen is the Game Improvement Editor at GOLF Magazine and GOLF.com. In his role he oversees the brand’s game improvement content spanning instruction, equipment, health and fitness, across all of GOLF’s multimedia platforms.

An alumni of the International Junior Golf Academy and the University of South Carolina–Beaufort golf team, where he helped them to No. 1 in the national NAIA rankings, Luke moved to New York in 2012 to pursue his Masters degree in Journalism from Columbia University. His work has also appeared in USA Today, Golf Digest, Newsweek and The Daily Beast.

  • Author Facebook Account
  • Author Twitter Account
  • Author Instagram Account

Related Articles

News
Scottie Scheffler of the United States plays his shot from the third tee prior to the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Country Club on May 13, 2025 in Charlotte, North Carolina.

PGA Championship tickets: What it costs to go right now

By: Jessica Marksbury
News
rory mcilroy smiles in white shirt and navy hat at the PGA Championship

For Rory McIlroy, now what? 4 'mangled' emotions and a bonus era

By: James Colgan
Gear
Xander Schauffele's golf bag at the 2025 PGA Championship.

Inside defending PGA champ Xander Schauffele's golf bag

By: Jack Hirsh
News
The 2025 PGA Championship dinner

At PGA Champions Dinner, a hilarious roast and a 'relaxed' Rory McIlroy

By: Josh Schrock
News
Bryson DeChambeau

1 Bryson DeChambeau practice round told us how the PGA should unfold

By: Sean Zak
News
Scottie Scheffler hits a tee shot during a practice round at Quail Hollow Club

Why this PGA Championship at Quail Hollow is lacking 'major' vibes

By: Josh Schrock
News
justin thomas hits out of a bunker during a pga championship practice round

PGA Championship Subpar picks: Favorite bets for Quail Hollow

By: Josh Berhow
Instruction
bryson dechambeau hits a tee shot during a practice round for the 2025 pga championship

The nerdy tech behind Bryson DeChambeau’s resurgence

By: Zephyr Melton
News
LIV pro Jon Rahm speaks to the media prior to the 2025 PGA Championship.

'It's not up to me': Jon Rahm's strange Ryder Cup silence raises questions

By: Kevin Cunningham
Sign up for GOLF's Newsletters
Get the latest news, the hottest instruction tips, new product releases, golf media insider reports and more delivered directly to your inbox. Choose your favorites now.
Sign Up
Categories
  • News
  • Instruction
  • Gear
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
Services
  • Masthead
  • GOLF Media Kit
  • GOLF Magazine Customer Service
  • TERMS OF SERVICE
  • PRIVACY POLICY
  • Opt-out of Ads/Sharing
  • Your Privacy Choices
Social
  • facebook
  • x
  • instagram
  • youtube
Membership
InsideGOLF Logo
More than $140 Value for JUST $39.99

INCLUDES 12 SRIXON Z-STAR XV GOLF BALLS, 1 YR OF GOLF MAGAZINE, $20 FAIRWAY JOCKEY CREDIT - AND MUCH MORE!

LEARN MORE

© 2025 EB Golf Media LLC. An 8AM Golf Affiliated Brand. All Rights Reserved. All of our market picks are independently selected and curated by the editorial team. If you buy a linked product, GOLF.COM may earn a fee. Pricing may vary.

Go to mobile version