"Below the surface, Jason Dufner may be the most interesting man in golf"

Alan Shipnuck files a lengthy and breezy profile on Jason Dufner, one of the favorites for next week's U.S. Open at Olympic Club.

This caught my eye:

Dufner’s peers know how dangerous he will be at Olympic. “He has everything you would want in a U.S. Open game,” says Jim Furyk, the 2003 Open champ. “He just plods along, keeps it in the fairway, makes pars and doesn’t get rattled.”

The last bit may be the most important at what figures to be the most demanding Open since Oakmont in 2007. “To be honest I’ve been a little disappointed in the setup the last couple of years,” Dufner says. “I’d like to see longer, thicker rough. I want it to be as hard as possible. That takes half the field out of it right away because they’ll be bitching about it and already beaten mentally. I don’t care how hard it is, it’s not going to bother me.”