Still, after turning pro in 2008 and entering his third full season on the PGA Tour, the Raleigh, North Carolina native is searching for that illusive first victory.

In his first two seasons on tour, Simpson did not turn too many heads, making just 35 of 61 cuts those first two years.

However, he did manage to squeeze into the top 10 in six of those cuts and the top 25 in 15 other events.

Basically, it was a typical first few years for a Nationwide Tour graduate on the big stage of the PGA Tour.

2011, by contrast, has been a much more successful year for the 26-year-old former Demon Deacon.

He has made the cut in all but three events this year with six top 10's and 14 top-25 finishes.

Simpson has also had his fair share of opportunities to grab his first win on the PGA Tour. They just keep finding ways to slip through his fingers.

Earlier in the year, he had a chance to win at the Transitions Championship, but ultimately bogeyed the final hole and missed out on his first victory by one stroke to the eventual champion, Gary Woodland.

At the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, Simpson came closer than he ever has to victory when he went to a playoff with Bubba Watson down on the bayou.

The two traded birdies on the first playoff hole and headed back to 18 to once again decide the tournament.

Simpson would subsequently miss a very similar putt to the one Watson had missed the previous go around, paring the hole, and then watched Watson birdie it to once again be the bridesmaid and not the bride.

This week at the Wyndham Championship, Simpson is once again near the top of the leader board and in contention to grab his first victory on the PGA Tour.

Is this his week to finally break through and hoist a trophy over his head?

He is currently in a tie for second place at nine-under par, three shots behind the current lead of Tommy "Two Gloves" Gainey.

Thirty-six holes remain at Sedgefield Country Club. Let's see if Simpson can finally add "PGA Tour Champion" to his tee box introduction this week in Greensboro.

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Of course, an opening round of four-under-par 66 at the Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield Country Club will help you do that.

“It’s probably a good thing to play this week and get last week out of my system,” Dufner told the PGA Tour in an interview after his round. “I was glad to see Thursday come.”

Dufner began the "healing process" at Sedgefield going off in the afternoon wave of players.

He got off to a good start with two birdies on the front-nine to go out in 33. He added three birdies on the back-nine with his lone bogey coming at the par-three 12th hole.

After his first round at the Wyndham Championship, Dufner was asked in his press conference what he thought of the media response after the PGA Championship and if it had been fair.

 "A little bit. I don't really know what fair would be. I think all the questions that have been asked from me have been pretty honest, and people are trying to do their job. They want to, I guess, get in my head and see where I'm at, and I feel like I'm pretty confident and pretty good about it.

"I don't see how you can see anything negative from losing in a playoff in a major, other than not winning. There's a lot of good things that happened last week. I think I showed a lot of people in the world that I can play some pretty good golf, and I probably showed myself that I can play a lot of good golf."

He most certainly did show that he could play some really good golf last week.

Dufner may have not won the PGA Championship, but from his demeanor, honesty and play after that incident coming down the stretch at the Atlanta Athletic Club, I believe he has shown he can handle adversity, pull through it and become a better golfer and perhaps a better person on the other side of it.

Dufner went on to say that the fan support has been really good after the PGA Championship. “There’s usually not that many people following me on a Thursday.”

I'm sure he will have to get used to a lot more fans following him after becoming a household name last week in Atlanta.

Only time will tell if Dufner actually did learn from last week and can apply that experience at the Wyndham Championship and beyond on the PGA Tour.

I believe we have not heard the last from him.

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Several big-name players heading into the event were sitting on the outside of the elusive top 125 in the FedEx Cup standings, out of the playoffs.

Names like Ernie Els, Justin Leonard, Padraig Harrington and Paul Casey are all teeing it up this week at the Wyndham Championship to try and squeeze into the top 125 field and make the PGA Tour's postseason.

Of the four players mentioned here, Casey is the furthest out of the playoffs at the moment.

The Englishman sat in the 147th position heading into round one in Greensboro.

Knowing this event is his last chance, Casey went out and shot a five-under-par 65 this morning to put him in a tie for second, at the time, and his projected FedEx Cup finish would be 106th.

Leonard is next in line after Casey currently in the 142nd spot in the FedEx Cup rankings.

The 1997 US Open champion also needed a good finishing spot at the Wyndham Championship to secure his playoff spot as well.

Leonard opened this event with a four-under-par round of 66, good enough for a T8 position at the time of this article.

His projected FedEx Cup finishing position is currently at 121, just enough to qualify for the postseason.

Ernie Els was also outside of the top 125 heading into Greensboro this week.

The 'Big Easy' came into the Wyndham Championship in the 126th spot, one spot out of qualifying him for the playoffs.

Els went out and fired a five-under-par round of 65 to be currently T2 in round one with a projected FedEx Cup finishing position of 100th.

Harrington, on the other hand, did not have the opening round he was hoping for.

The three-time major winner postponed a family Bahamas vacation on his wife's request to go to Greensboro to try and qualify for the playoffs.

Harrington had his score to three under par at one point in the round. Back-to-back bogeys on holes three and four would drop him to one under par for the day.

His current FedEx Cup projected finish is currently at 126, one position outside looking in.

Each of these players knows that this is their last shot to qualify for the FedEx Cup postseason and a shot at the $10-million bonus for winning the FedEx Cup.

It is crunch time for these big-name players. Which one will be left standing on the outside, looking in?

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For Ryo Ishikawa (sporting a new haircut this week), it has taken him around the globe and humbled him at the same time after an 8.9 earthquake struck his native country of Japan causing a devastating tsunami that will take years to recover from.

Ishikawa made a very unselfish and heartwarming offer to the people of Japan. He announced he would donate his entire 2011 earnings from golf to the relief efforts of his homeland.

To date, Ishikawa has earned $820,693 in tournaments in the US and Japan.

However, a win here at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational would take that total to over $2,000,000, with the winning share this week in Akron at $1,400,000.

Although Ishikawa has not fared well in the US this season with just one Top 10 finish in 24 PGA Tour events, he did play well at the Masters earlier this year finishing in a tie for 20th position.

That stat is looking to change this week with his stellar play around Firestone.

Ishikawa is currently tied for second at 11-under-par with Jason Day, only one shot behind the lead of Adam Scott.

Not to put too much pressure on himself and what it would mean not only for him to win here this week, but what it could mean for Japan as well.

"I think it’s a little too early to think about winning this whole thing as of now," he said through an interpreter in a PGA Tour interview. "But I do feel that I was able to play at a pretty good level, pretty high level today. Actually I am a little bit surprised of how I performed out there.

“There were times where I had to do some trouble shots, hitting out from the woods, but when I was able to make those recovery shots, there were some really warm claps and all from the fans. So I was very happy to be out there today."

Not that the young star has had too many of "trouble shots" this week at Firestone.

He has carded just three bogeys all week compared to his 12 birdies and one eagle through three rounds of play.

In Round 3 today, Ishikawa kept a clean card en route to shooting a six-under-par 64 to surge up the leader board heading into the final round on Sunday.

It's easy to see why he is playing so well this week at the Bridgestone Invitational when you look at his putting stats through the first three rounds.

Ishikawa is leading the field in putting average by taking only 24 putts per round. That is only 72 putts for 54 holes of play.

Not too shabby considering he is only hitting 50 percent of his fairways.

There is no denying the young man’s talent on a golf course. The only thing that has ever been brought up on him are his performances on the PGA Tour.

He has played in nine events since turning pro in 2008, only finishing inside the Top 20 once, which was this year at Augusta.

It doesn't matter whether or not Ishikawa wins tomorrow at Firestone.

The strong finish will not only give himself a big confidence boost, but it could inspire and give hope to an entire country that has suffered through such a great tragedy halfway around the world.

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At the end of round two, there was a four-way tie atop the leaderboard.

Rickie Fowler, Adam Scott, Keegan Bradley and Ryan Moore were all sitting at eight-under par.

With the top of the leaderboard beginning to get crowded, everyone knew they needed to go out early today and put up a low number to move up or get left behind.

A handful of players did just that today.

Japanese sensation Ryo Ishikawa opened the Bridgestone with scores of 67 and 68 in the first two rounds.

With others showing the course could yield low numbers, Ishikawa went out in round three and shot a six-under-par 64 to put him into second place at eleven-under-par for the tournament.

Not to let the young star have all the fun, 2007 Masters champion Zach Johnson needed to improve on his first two rounds scores of 70 and 68 to make a move.

The Iowa native did just that today in round three.

With only one bogey on his card, Johnson went on to birdie seven holes, including a string of three in a row from holes 15 through 17, to post a six-under-par 64.

That score would help improve his total for the tournament to eight-under-par.

World No. 1 Luke Donald also needed a big round on moving day after average rounds of 68 and 69 to begin his week in Akron.

Donald did a little better than that today.

Beginning the day at three-under-par for the tournament, the Englishmen went birdie hunting early and often at Firestone.

He got out of the gates quickly by birdying his first two holes to get him to five-under-par for the event.

After that start, the circles on the card kept coming.

Donald went on to birdie seven holes while carding just one bogey en route to his six-under-par 64 to surge up the leader board.

Adam Scott, one of the co-leaders after 36 holes, has continued his good play at Firestone as well.

Beginning the day eight-under-par, the Australian had a round much like his first round with birdies coming in bunches.

Carding two birdies and a bogey on the front nine, Scott went out in 34.

The back nine started with a slip on the par four 10th hole. A bogey put him back to even on his round.

He picked up the pace two holes later.

A birdie on No. 12 to get him back to one-under-par for the day was followed by three birdies in a row on holes 14 through 16 to bet his tournament score to twelve-under-par and the outright lead.

The 31-year old seven-time PGA Tour winner will look to continue his birdie barrage into Sunday's final round as he looks for his first victory since the Valero Texas Open in 2010.

Heading into tomorrow's final round, Adam Scott has the solo lead at twelve-under-par.

Scott is followed by Ryo Ishikawa and Jason Day at eleven-under-par, Keegan Bradley and Martin Laird at ten-under-par and a group of three players at nine-under-par including Luke Donald, Fredrick Jacobson and Rickie Fowler.

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No, it wasn't the fact that he was six shots off the lead of Adam Scott.

The 22-year-old is still rolling off of questions from the media of when is he going to win on the PGA Tour.

In a "what have you done for me lately" world, the media is quick to forget that not too long ago, another budding young golfer was answering to these same questions: David Duval.

Duval answered the same questions that Fowler is answering now.

And what many have forgotten is that it took Duval 86 events before he recorded his first PGA Tour win.

It took him a full two seasons on the PGA Tour before he would capture his first win on the Tour in 1997 at the Michelob Championship at Kingsmill.

Two full seasons, and that was after the Jacksonville, Fla. native cut his teeth on the Nike Tour for two years.

Something Fowler did not do.

Though Duval is not held to the same 24-hour media standard that Fowler is subjected to, it still does not change the fact that Fowler is not yet to where many believed he "should" be.

However, many hold him to a different standard than they did a similar golfer in Duval a decade ago.

Yes, Fowler has not shown he can close a tournament out.

Yes, Fowler has shown nerves coming down the stretch to lose tournaments.

Yes, Fowler is unproven in majors and big events when it is on the line.

Lest we forget, in 1995, many of the same things were said about another golfer, Duval, as they are now about Fowler.

We were able to give Duval a "grace period" before labeling him a flop or failure on the PGA Tour.

He then only went on to win 11 PGA Tour events in a three-year span (1997–2000), as well as The Open Championship in 2001.

So with yet a full two years on the PGA Tour under his Puma belt, I say we give Rickie Fowler a bit of a hall pass.

We forget, he only earned a full-time PGA Tour card through Q-school in 2010, so let's cut the kid some slack.

In the past, we seemed to be able to do that with another young American golfer.

Let's just see if lighting can strike twice.

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At the start of Round 2 of the 2011 Bridgestone Invitational, it was the lone man Adam Scott sitting atop the Firestone leader board at eight-under par.

Heading into Round 3 and the weekend in Akron, Ohio, there are five players tied for the lead at eight-under par.

Rickie Fowler made the early headlines as he went out in the morning wave of players and shot the low round of the day, a six-under-par 64 to earn a share of the lead.

Fowler's round was an up and down round as he mixed eight birdies with four bogeys and a hole out from the fairway on the par-four third hole for an eagle.

He held the outright lead at one point at nine-under-par, but a bogey on No. 9, his 18th, after firing his tee shot way out right forcing him to punch out to the fairway. That mistake dropped him back to eight-under-par.

The overnight leader Adam Scott had a pretty boring round of even par to remain at eight-under-par for the championship.

He matched his first two bogeys of the tournament with two birdies to finish the round as it began, eight-under par.

Unable to fire at the pins as he did on Friday, though by his own accord in the press conference yesterday, it is better to get out good, early than have to make up ground as others had to do today.

He has done just that.

Fellow Aussie Jason Day also was also unable to produce the fireworks Rickie Fowler did and finished his round at even-par to drop out of the five way tie for the lead.

Ryan Moore and Keegan Bradley were able to put together very solid rounds of their own to jump up into the mix.

Moore fired a four-under-par 66 to replicate his opening round on Thursday.

Bradley improved his first-round score by two strokes on Friday, moving him up 12 spots on the leader board into this tie we now have for the lead at eight-under par.

After the five-way tie at the top we have Martin Laird and Robert Karlsson at seven-under and Fredrick Jacobson and Brandt Snedeker at six-under.

Then there is a group of three players at five-under including Hennie Otto, Nick Watney and Ryo Ishikawa, with scoring conditions and chances seemingly on the down slide heading into the weekend.

It looks like it is going to take two gems around Firestone to have a shot at the 2011 Bridgestone Invitational.

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Adam Scott took the overnight lead into round two with a brilliant eight-under-par 62 performance to put him one stroke ahead of fellow countryman Jason Day.

With a one shot lead over Day and a few strokes difference between a group of players with scores of six- and seven-under par, Scott could come out in round two comfortable and try to play as he did yesterday—aggressive.

His day did not begin as it did yesterday.

Scott did not see his first birdie of the day until he reached his 11th hole of the day, the par-five second hole. Adam began his round today on the back nine.

At that point, he needed every stroke he had not given up on the day.

Enter Rickie Fowler.

Fowler had been on a charge all morning around Firestone.

Heading into round two, Fowler was sitting at two-under par. After making the turn, he would be at five-under par on the day.

Coming off of three straight birdies on No. 13, 14 and 15. Rickie dropped a shot on the par-four 17th hole.

A birdie on No. 18 would be a great bounce back to make the turn going out at three-under par (32).

Coming to the front nine after starting round two off from No. 10, Fowler hit incredible wedge from 106 yards out and holed out on the par-four No. 3 for eagle.

With his previous birdie on No. 2, he was now at eight-under par and tied with Adam Scott for the lead.

A slip to give one back with a bogey on No. 7 would give the outright lead back to Adam Scott for the time being at nine-under par.

The young former Oklahoma State Cowboy bounced right back yet again to birdie the par-four eighth hole to regain a tie for the lead with Adam Scott at nine-under par.

Glancing at the leader board on No. 9, his 18th hole, Fowler sees his name alone at the top as Adam Scott bogeyed his first hole of the tournament to fall back to eight-under par.

With the lead, again we may have seen some nerves from Fowler. He sprayed his tee shot way out to the right forcing a punch out to the fairway leaving him with 130 yards to the flag stick.

He would miss his 17-foot par putt and tap in for his third bogey of the round.

That would drop him back into a three-way tie for the lead, at the time of this article, with Adam Scott and Ryan Moore at eight-under par.

Though Fowler had an up and down round today at Firestone, he showed what many believe to be one of the next big young talents on the PGA Tour.

The only question remains is can he finally get his first win as a professional?

And will that win come this week at Firestone? 

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Scott, who now has Wood's old caddy Steve Williams on his bag, fired a very impressive eight-under-par 62 to lead fellow countryman Jason Day by one after the first round in Akron Ohio.

That score matched his career low on the PGA Tour.

"He [meaning Williams] didn't think it was a big deal to shoot 62," Scott noted. "It was normal."

The 31-year old from Adelaide Australia turned in a clean score card of eight birdies and took full advantage of a 'softer' Firestone South course today.

“You gotta have hardly any wind and the course was soft,” Scott explained to the AP. “I played really well for the first 15 holes.” As for having Steve Williams now permanently on his bag, Adam said, “He’s got me super fired up. He pushes me.”

Scott began the day with three birdies on the front nine to go out in 32. The birdie-barrage then began on the back nine.

Seeing the low scores from the morning wave of players, Adam knew he would have to go low to be in the spot he wanted to be in after Round 1.

"I just feel like I need to get myself in these things from Thursday, show up and go, not show up and see how you get on the first nine," Scott said.

"I feel like that's a good way for me to go because I'm hitting the ball well, and I feel really confident on the greens. It was green light and just attack."

And attack he did heading to the back nine of Firestone.

Starting out by birdying the par-four 10th hole, Scott went on to run three birdies in a row on holes 13 through 15.

A par on No. 16 followed by another birdie on No. 17 brought him to the par-four 18th which had been playing as the hardest hole on the course all day.

His drive found the right rough but left a good angle at the green.  Scott hit his second shot to just over the back right portion of the green.

A two-putt par later found the Aussie with the overnight lead at eight-under-par.

The 19-time worldwide winner has not won on the PGA Tour since capturing the Valero Texas Open in 2010.

As we head into round two of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, a pair of Aussies lead the way over the best field in golf.

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The Northern Irishman went on record recently saying he did not like playing in such bad weather as they had this year at The Open Championship at Royal St. George's.

A statement that struck many as very odd, as he grew up playing in weather such as that from a young age not far off the coast of the Irish Sea.

McIlory, never one to hold his opinion back, has said he was not only considering re-joining the PGA Tour next season but has been looking at homes near the Palm Beach Florida area.

Not such a surprise considering the agency that represents him, ISM, has offices in West Palm Beach.

A move like this would give the PGA Tour a pretty good boost, as McIlory is not only the current US Open champion but is also one of, if not the brightest young star the game has to offer right now.

And of course, he is quite comfortable in the United States.

"I feel I play my best golf over here," McIlroy said to the Associated Press. "I'm very comfortable in this country. Yeah, I'm definitely looking toward coming back and playing a full schedule."

A full schedule would mean McIlroy would have to commit to playing at least 15 PGA Tour events if he were to take his PGA Tour card back up in 2012.

What was one of the biggest contributing factors in his decision?

Look no further than the comments he made during and after The Open Championship a few weeks back in Southeast England.

"No, the weather," he said with his infectious smile. "I just thought about it. I feel as if my game really suits playing courses over here. You have your favourite events, and most of my favourite events seem to be on this side of the pond. And my game suits it over here. I'm very comfortable over here.

"I'd like to give it a go again and obviously last more than one year and really see how it goes."

McIlroy is right about one thing. His game does suit courses on this side of the Atlantic more than they do links style golf.

The 22-year old made that evident in his two biggest wins so far in his career coming at Quail Hollow in 2010 and of course his gaudy performance at this year's US Open, which he won by eight strokes.

The move has not been made official nor has he leaned either way about his decision.

I would expect to see Rory McIlroy a lot more next season on this side of the pond.

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