Jason Dufner is not sleepwalking to stardom, though his demeanor might suggest otherwise. If he weren't an Auburn man, one might conclude that he is an adherent of the old Bear Bryant line, that when you get to the end zone, act like you've been there before.

He's now gotten to the end zone twice in three starts, the second coming when he holed a 25-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole of the HP Byron Nelson Championship on Sunday to beat a 'Bama man, Dicky Pride, by a shot.

Photo by Getty Images.

"Jason won by one, but we've got the national title, big man," Pride said, showing more emotion for finishing second than Dufner did for winning, perhaps for good reason. Pride, 41, had been 354th in the World Ranking and has now earned a return to the PGA Tour full-time.

"All my buddies on the Nationwide Tour?" he said. "Guys, I love you, but I'm staying out here."

Meanwhile, Dufner, 35 and following a nondescript start to his career, is now, in fact, sprinting to stardom, this victory carrying him into the top 10 in the World Ranking and evoking a hint of a smile in the aftermath. His two PGA Tour victories have come in the last month, in between which he got married. Presumably, though not undoubtedly, he smiled in the wedding photo.

GLADSTONE, N.J. -- Winning the Sybase Match Play Championship would be quite an early birthday present for Morgan Pressel, who turns 24 next Wednesday. Given the recent arc of her career, though, just making it...

GLADSTONE, N.J. -- Winning the Sybase Match Play Championship would be quite an early birthday present for Morgan Pressel, who turns 24 next Wednesday. Given the recent arc of her career, though, just making it to Sunday morning's semifinals is a well-earned gift in itself.

Pressel's best finish in 2012 was a T-20 at the Kia Classic. She is looking for her first victory since 2008. After a rousing comeback victory over No. 2 seed Na Yeon Choi Saturday morning, Pressel defeated Anna Nordqvist 5 and 4 Saturday afternoon. For Pressel, who will face 24-year-old Azahara Munoz of Spain on Sunday, this week has been a big step forward. (Candie Kung and Vicky Hurst will square off in the other semifinal.)

"No matter what happens, this is the best I've played in a long time," Pressel said. "I finally feel comfortable with my game again to a point where I haven't been in a while. I'm going to give it everything I have tomorrow. But I just have a lot of confidence going into the heart of the season."

Pressel has been working recently with instructor Ron Stockton, previously her short-game coach, on all parts of her game. She is trying to recapture some of the magic that made her the youngest winner (18 years, 10 months, 9 days) of an LPGA major championship at the 2007 Kraft Nabsico.

"Certainly people put expectations on me -- the media, the fans, my sponsors, everybody wants me to play well," Pressel said. "Having won the Kraft so young, I'm never going to say it was a bad thing. I mean, I'm a major champion, the youngest in LPGA history. I probably more than anybody else put extra pressure on myself to really be a world-beater, and I don't think I was quite ready for that and don't think I was quite mature enough for that."

-- Bill Fields

GLADSTONE, N.J. -- It's match play. Upsets happen. And they have at the LPGA's Sybase Match Play Championship at Hamilton Farm GC.   The week's underdog theme continued unbridled Saturday morning in the third round...