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PITTSFORD, N.Y. — When it was over and Jason Dufner had officially become a major championship winner yesterday at the PGA Championship at Oak Hill, he was walking through the roped-off gauntlet lined with spectators leading from the 18th green to the clubhouse. The first fellow player to greet him with a hug was Keegan Bradley.
Two years ago, Bradley tore a piece of Dufner’s heart out when he defeated him in a playoff to win the 2011 PGA Championship at Atlanta Athletic Club. Dufner bogeyed the last three holes and let a big lead slip away that Sunday in Atlanta and ended up in a playoff, during which Bradley seized the moment to win his first major.
A short time later, while sitting at a large interview podium, Dufner looked small while he searched for words to explain the emotions that came with blowing a chance to win his first career major championship.
He was a 34-year-old journeyman at the time whom few had even heard of, and he looked like a frightened 24-year-old, dazed and overwhelmed by being in the spotlight for the first time.
Perhaps the best, most poignant thing Dufner said in that interview, during which he was being asked six ways to Sunday to “describe the disappointment,” was this: “I’ll be disappointed if I never get another chance.’’
It took two years, but Dufner got his chance yesterday at Oak Hill and he seized it, shooting a steely final-round 68 to finish 10-under par, overtake 54-hole leader Jim Furyk — who finished 8-under after shooting 71 — and capture the most important tournament of his life.
“I saw Keegan as I finished up and we just kind of bro-‑hugged — which I don’t know how that goes over — and he just said, ‘I’m proud of you,’ ’’ Dufner said. “I said, ‘Thanks a lot. It means a lot for you to be here.’
“I was probably over what happened in Atlanta, 95 percent of it, by the time we got back home at Auburn. But you always carry those scars with you.’’
PGA CHAMPIONSHIP: OAK HILL HOLE-BY-HOLE
The most important element to how Dufner won was the way he went about his business. He was the opposite of the overwhelmed guy he looked and sounded like two years ago. This was his tournament. He owned it. And he played like it.
“I come across as a pretty cool customer, I guess, but there are definitely some nerves out there, especially when you’re trying to win a major championship,’’ Dufner said. “I was just trying to keep one foot forward and not screw it up.’’
With the lead, Dufner looked every bit as confident and unaffected as Tiger Woods used to when he closed out Sunday leads at major championships. The only thing Dufner was missing was Woods’ Sunday red shirt.
“I watch a lot of sports, [and] one of the reasons I watch is to see how these guys handle pressure, how they respond to situations,’’ Dufner said. “A good example is LeBron James. He really struggled for a couple of times trying to get that championship, and just how they played with so much confidence. That’s what I tried to take from those guys.
“I just decided [yesterday] that I was going to be confident and try to win this thing. I was not going to play scared or soft. It’s a big step in my career.’’
When Dufner took his first lead of the day with a birdie on No. 5, he never let go. With Furyk chasing on the back nine, Dufner never gave him an opening.
Earlier in the day, after Bradley finished his round, he predicted Dufner was going to be “tough’’ to beat, saying: “He’s been involved in majors in the last two years a lot. Whenever you see that, I think you see guys break through.’’
Bradley, who has been known to have to dinner with Dufner and bring along his replica of the Wanamaker Trophy to playfully rub it in, texted Dufner on Saturday night to wish him luck.
“He’s a good guy and he’s good-hearted about a little ribbing that I give him about that day,’’ Bradley said. “The friendship with Duf is cool because we’re going to have that forever, me and him in that playoff.’’
Now Dufner has his own Wanamaker Trophy to bring to dinner.
mark.cannizzaro@nypost.com