Dufner Leads After 2 Rounds At Colonial

{fshare id=2625}

Jason Dufner holds the lead going into the weekend at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth.  Should Jason Dufner win for the second straight week, he would become just the second player to win the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial and HP Byron Nelson Championship in the same year (Ben Hogan/1946), but the first to do so in back-to-back weeks. Dufner would become the 15th player to win both the HP Byron Nelson Championship and the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial during their career. Others who have completed the “DFW Double” are Ben Crenshaw, Roberto De Vicenzo, Ben Hogan, Sam Snead, Bruce Devlin, Jack Nicklaus, Lanny Wadkins, Tom Watson, Bruce Lietzke, Nick Price, Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia, Rory Sabbatini and Julius Boros.

FedExCup points leader Jason Dufner holds the 36-hole lead/co-lead for the fifth time this season (Transitions Championship, Masters Tournament, Zurich Classic of New Orleans, HP Byron Nelson Championship, Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial) and the eighth time in his career. He recently won for the first time after holding the 36-hole lead at the 2012 Zurich Classic of New Orleans and the HP Byron Nelson Championship.

Now in the 21st week of the 2012 regular season, Dufner (13 stroke-play starts) has held/shared the lead 10 times in the first three rounds of a tournament, equaling Tiger Woods (10 such leads, 16 stroke-play events, 2009) for most in a season since the beginning of the 2007 campaign.  Dufner’s 36-hole total of 129 is just one shy of his career-best opening 36-hole score (128, 2009 Humana Challenge).

Dufner is now 22-under in his last six rounds on TOUR, including rounds of 67-66-69-67 in winning the HP Byron Nelson Championship and rounds of 65-64 to open up this week.

Zach Johnson is making his seventh start at the Colonial, where he has never finished outside of the top 30. The 2010 Crowne Plaza Invitational champion appears to be in good shape to extend that streak, currently in solo-second place after rounds of 64-67.

Johnson has now posted his last 14 rounds in the 60s at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, dating to a first round 69 in 2009.

Johnson has yet to miss a cut in 13 starts this year. He claimed runner-up finishes in two of his three starts prior to this week (RBC Heritage, THE PLAYERS). His other top-10 finish of the season came at the Humana Challenge (T8). He is No. 18 on the FedExCup points list.

Bo Van Pelt posted a 64 on Friday, his 13th consecutive round in the 60s at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial. He has yet to miss a cut in nine starts at the event, with top-10 finishes in 2004 (T5), 2010 (T10) and 2011 (3rd).

Defending champion David Toms will miss the cut after rounds of 74-71 this week. Making his 15th start at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, he was seeking to join Ben Hogan as the only players to win back-to-back Colonials, with Hogan performing the feat twice (1946-47 and 1952-53).

Ben Crane (T42) holed out on his final hole (par-4 ninth) from 104 yards with a 51-degree wedge to move to 1-over 141. He has now made the cut in six of eights starts at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, with top-5 finishes in 2006 (T4), 2008 (5th) and 2010 (T3).

Harrison Frazar (missed cut) had a hole-in-one with an 8-iron from 183 yards on the par-3 16th hole. It is the 26th ace of the season and the first of Frazar’s PGA TOUR career.

1985 and 1996 Crowne Plaza Invitational champion Corey Pavin, making his 29th consecutive start at the event dating to 1984, followed an opening-round, 1-over 71 with an even-par 70 to make the cut for the 25th time. He owns eight top 10s at the Colonial. Ben Hogan leads in all-time top 10s here with 15.

Harris English sits T6 after rounds of 65-70. He got an early start on low rounds this week, having decimated the Gleneagles Country Club Queens Course in Plano, TX on Monday for the International Final Qualifier (IFQ) America. In the 36-hole event, English followed a 10-under 60 with a 7-under 63, beating the field by four strokes. As a result, English will be making his first start at the British Open in July.

THE PLAYERS Championship winner Matt Kuchar has never missed a cut in five starts at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial (T36-2007, 9-2008, T27-2009, T56-2010, T16-2011). After an opening-round 2-over 72, he carded a 1-under 69 in round two to make his TOUR-leading 19th consecutive cut.

View our Crowne Plaza Invitational Photo Galleries:

Round 1 Photo Gallery

Round 2 Photo Gallery

 

 

Share and Enjoy !

Shares