D.J. Trahan has never been one to show much emotion. To give you some perspective, he shows as much fire on the course as Retief Goosen.
That's why I was caught off guard after Trahan hit his second shot on the 18th yelling, "Come on! Come on!" When he missed his short birdie putt, he threw his ball into the water.
Trahan might not like the U.S. Open as much as the Masters--and he might not like Torrey Pines as a course--but he sure is fired up.
D.J. Trahan is right in the thick of things after day two at Torrey Pines at 1-under-par. The interesting thing about Trahan is that he isn't particularly fond of the course. Jay Coffin of Golfweek wrote earlier today on the Tour blog:
The confident 27-year-old shot 69 in the second round to share the clubhouse lead with Davis Love III, then wasted little time saying he is not fond of Torrey Pines and that the U.S. Open was not the major championship he cherishes most.
“The golf course doesn’t suit me very well and I don’t care for it much,” Trahan said, mostly regarding the Buick setup each January. “I was looking forward to coming out here and seeing it in a completely different state. I’ve enjoyed it quite a bit more.”
In order to hold a lead and win at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, you have to shoot low nu
mbers. 11-time PGA Tour winner Justin Leonard did just that the first four days, but on Sunday, his birdie run came to a halt. After shooting a 3-under par 33 on the front-9, Leonard went 3-over on the back-9 to finish with an even-par 72, squandering his four stroke lead, and losing to D.J. Trahan by two strokes. A lot of credit has to go to Trahan after firing a 7-under 65. This is the second tour win for Trahan, who won at the Southern Farm Classic in 2006 (now called the Viking Classic.) "Knowing Justin was in front, he’s a great frontrunner…I knew I was going to have to go out and play some good golf," said Trahan. "65 was a good round and it was able to get the job done for me. I’m very happy." The turning point in the round occurred when Leonard three-putt the 10th hole for a bogey, and Trahan sank a lengthy birdie putt for a two shot swing. "I’m disappointed I didn’t play better on the back-9," said Leonard. "I played pretty good on the front and hit a couple of good shots into 10, and just hit my first putt too hard and could never really get any momentum after that." Trahan, at 27, will head to the Masters for the first time since he was an amateur in 2001.
