Byron Nelson Championship 2012: Jason Dufner Holds On For Win

Phil Mickelson is making it interesting on Sunday at the Byron Nelson, recording his fifth birdie of the day at No. 12 at TPC Four Seasons to pull within two shots of the lead. Mickelson has not yet made a bogey in his final round as he looks for his 41st win on the PGA Tour. Lefty’s round was highlighted by a four-hole stretch on the front side where he got incredibly hot with the putter to card four straight birdies. The fourth came on No. 8, where he drained a 30-foot putt to pull within two shots of the lead at the time.

It appeared Mickelson would make his first bogey of the day on No. 11 after his drive went wild and completely off the grid. But he saved par with his amazing patented lob wedge to keep hope alive. He then followed up that save with a birdie on No. 12, drilling a 15-foot putt to pull back within two shots of leader J.J. Henry, who’s at 9-under.

The Byron Nelson Championship tees off it’s third round on Saturday morning at 8:35 a.m. ET from Irving, Texas with the pairing of Nathan Green, T.J. Trahan, and John Mallinger. Jason Dufner starts the day atop the leaderboard with a 7-under through the first two rounds, while last week’s Players Champion Matt Kuchar is in the penultimate spot, tied with five other golfers shooting a 6-under.

Dufner will tee off at 10:45 a.m. ET while Kuchar tees off at 10:35 a.m. ET.

Speed of play is hardly a new problem on the PGA Tour (see: Ben Crane, circa 2005), and Kevin Na -- with his pokey pace at last week’s Players Championship -- was not the first pro golfer to raise the ire of those whose blood boils ever faster with each pre-shot twitch and tic (see: Kevin Na -- well, any time since he joined the PGA Tour). Indeed, Luke Donald complained about his colleagues’ comatose clip in the first event of 2012 -- and the once-and-future No. 1 wasn’t even playing in the tournament.

Responding to Donald’s claim on Twitter back in January that “Slow play is killing our sport,” ESPN analyst Paul Azinger tweeted back that the issue came up “at most player meetings i’ve been to since my rookie year..1982.”