The pride of northeast Ohio, Jason Dufner, took five minutes before his Tuesday practice round at Waialae Country Club in Honolulu to meet with Ohio’s Golf.  Dufner had his breakout year in 2009 after five seasons on the PGA Tour , when he finished 11^th in the final FedExCup standings.

Dufner is one of four Ohio natives participating in this year’s Sony Open in Hawaii, along with Ostrander’s Ben Curtis, Lancaster’s Joe Oglivie and Dublin rookie Chris Wilson.  

Curtis currently leads the pack of Ohioans at -1 (70-69), sitting in a tie for 40th place. Joe Ogilvie has posted scores of 69 and 71 to lock in for a share of 59th, while Dufner sits one stroke back at a one-over 69-72. Rookie Chris Wilson was just shy of the cut in his full-time PGA Tour debut as he rounded out the Buckeye State's finest at 71-72.

Below is Ohio's Golf's exclusive sit-down with Dufner earlier this week.

OG:  Great year last year. You finished 11^th overall in the FedExCup standings. How much are you letting thoughts of making the Ryder Cup team pop into your head?

JD:  I haven’t really thought of it to be honest with you. I don’t think I got any points last year, I think they just were for the majors, maybe if I had another good year like last year I could be in contention. I think I would need a couple of good finishes in the majors, but this being one of the first events of the year, I’d have to say it’s one of the furthest things from my mind right now.

OG: So you lived in Cleveland native before you moved down south. How long did you live in Ohio?

JD:  I was there until I was 11 or 12.

OG: So you didn’t really play much golf while you lived in Cleveland?

JD:  No, not really. I played a little bit in the Plain Dealer Tournament in the summers there and I played on the North Coast Junior Tour.

OG: Where exactly did you live?

JD:  I lived in the North Olmstead.

OG:  You had a strong third place finish in the Australian Masters at the end of last year. How did you enjoy playing internationally?

JD:  Yes, international is good. I think it is good to mix up the golf a little bit. A lot of the stateside courses we play are pretty similar, so you get comfortable doing that, but when you get overseas the golf courses are different and Australia was a lot different. We played Kingston Heath in Melbourne and I really enjoyed it. I got to play with Tiger on Saturday, which was a really good experience. I think it will help me in the long run being in that type of environment and in those type of tournaments.

OG:  Do you feel like you are right on the verge of getting your first win?

JD:  Yes … that would be nice. That is one of the goals for this year is to try and win a tournament. I’ve been in contention maybe a half dozen times now … or what I thought would be being in contention by having a chance in during the final nine holes.

OG:  Seems like every time we were looking at the top ten, you were right there last year. Did you surprise yourself?

JD:  No, I don’t think so. Being out here five years now, I’m getting more comfortable with the atmosphere.   I better understand what I can do and what I can’t do. It’s made me a little bit better player, but everyone is trying to win out here and you never know when it is going to happen.  Everybody has dreams of it happening.

OG:  You’ve said Ben Hogan was your personal golf hero. What is it about him that you admire and attracts you to that type of personality?

JD:  I just think that he really came from nothing and built a career for himself. He built himself up and became arguably one of the greatest players of his day and of all-time. It’s great to see someone that had dreams and aspirations about being great at something and then went out and achieved them.

OG: I loved that you have listed sleeping as one of your favorite activities. Is it hard for you to keep up on your sleep out here?

JD:  No, it’s pretty easy. We have a lot of down time, especially during tournament days. I don’t try and put a lot of practice in during the event, so it gives a lot of time to sleep.

OG:  You didn’t start playing seriously until you were fifteen?

JD:  Yeah, I would go play with my grandfather or my dad a little before that … but I didn’t start getting serious about playing tournaments until 15 or 16 … the middle of high school.

OG:  What other sports did you enjoy before that?

JD:  I played a lot of baseball and basketball.

OG:  As an Auburn grad do you follow the football and basketball down there.

JD:  Oh yes, I follow the football team. Not the basketball, just the football team.

OG:  Statistically, you were pretty solid hitting drives overall and hitting greens in regulation, your putting was a little bit higher.  Would you say that scrambling is the best part of your game?  Especially since your scoring average was good (34^th overall).

JD:  I would say that driving is the best part of my game and my iron game is pretty good too. I could always get better from 100 yards and in … wedge game, pitching, putting.  That can always get better.  My main goal this year is to improve from inside 100 yards.

OG:  What was your personal highlight in 2009? Was it your second place finish at Deutsche Bank? Playing with Tiger in Australia? Or maybe even the third place you recorded at the Canadian Open?

JD:  I think being in contention the final nine holes at Deutsche Bank and contending in Australia with Tiger would be even as far as my personal highlights in 2009.

OG:  What events are you playing in Ohio?

JD:  I’ll be at the Memorial for sure. I’m not sure if I’m exempt for Firestone.

OG:  Jason … thanks for talking to Ohio’s Golf.

JD:  No problem. Thank you.