Johnson edges Dufner to win at Colonial

Updated May 28, 2012 12:55:19

Zach Johnson fired a 2-over 72 that included a two-shot penalty at the final hole to win the Crowne Plaza Invitational in Texas, denying Jason Dufner a third US PGA victory this season.

On a day of drama, Johnson appeared to be home and dry after Dufner's triple-bogey seven at the par-four 15th.

That gave Johnson a four-shot lead, and even after a bogey at 16 the 2007 Masters champion arrived at 18 with a three-stroke lead.

He had celebrated what he thought was a par for a three-shot win but then realized he had moved his ball marker on the 18th green and failed to replace it properly.

With the two-shot penalty, Johnson signed for a 72 and a 12-under total of 268 - giving him only a one-shot victory over Dufner.

"I did move it, and I did not move it back," Johnson said. "You can come up with a lot of adjectives for that.

"I'm going to focus on the positives because I hit a really solid putt - and it's a good thing I made it."

Dufner, who won his first US tour title in 163 attempts on April 29 in New Orleans and won again at the Byron Nelson Classic last week, started the day with a one-shot lead over Johnson.

But he faded down the stretch, finishing with a 4-over 74 that included a double-bogey and two bogeys.

Dufner's challenge collapsed at 15, where his approach shot rolled off the green and into the water.

His chip from a drop in the rough rolled off the green, and his four-foot putt for a double-bogey burned the edge of the cup.

Dufner had surrendered his overnight lead at the second hole with a bogey from a fairway bunker as Johnson birdied to seize a one-shot advantage.

Back-to-back birdies at five and six saw Dufner regain the lead, and he moved two ahead with a par at the par-3 eighth, where Johnson missed the green en route to a bogey.

Dufner's lead was erased, however, when he took a double-bogey at the par-4 ninth, where he was in the water.

Johnson pulled two strokes ahead at the par-5 11th, where his tee shot kicked off a tree to land in the fairway, while Dufner's shot on a similar line ended up under the trees.

Dufner took bogey and Johnson emerged with a birdie.

At the next hole, however, Johnson saw his lead erased with another two-shot swing. Johnson scrambled to make a bogey while Dufner rolled in an eight-foot birdie putt.

Johnson edged ahead with his last birdie of the day at 14, which proved enough after Dufner's disaster at 15.

"I just didn't have it today," said Dufner, who squeezed in his wedding between his two recent tour wins.

"It has been a pretty exciting month or so of golf and personal things.

"I'm not going to use that as an excuse. I just couldn't get the ball in the fairway."

Even so, Dufner was comfortably in front of third-placed Tommy Gainey, who had six birdies and overcame a double-bogey six at the 12th en route to a 3-under 67 for a total of 273.

Jim Furyk was fourth with a 68 for 274.

AFP

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First posted May 28, 2012 12:55:19

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Toms surrenders Colonial lead

Posted May 22, 2011 12:24:00

David Toms frittered away a commanding seven-stroke lead to trail South Korean Charlie Wi by one shot after the third round at the Colonial Invitational.

On a blustery day at Colonial Country Club, American Toms struggled with his putting on the way to an ugly 4-over-par 74 in his bid to end a PGA Tour title drought of five years.

Having opened with bogey-free 62s in his first two rounds here to spreadeagle the field, Toms dropped three shots in his first six holes before finishing at 12-under 198.

Playing partner Wi, who has yet to win on the US circuit, fired an ice-cool 66 that included five birdies and a lone bogey to hold the outright lead at 13-under.

John Senden (70) was alone in third at nine under, a stroke in front of fellow Australian Stuart Appleby (67) and Americans Paul Goydos (67) and Mark Wilson (71).

Toms, seven ahead of the chasing pack over night, made a promising start to the third round when he birdied the par-five first.

However his day began to unravel as he bogeyed the second, third and sixth to reach the turn at 14-under with his advantage cut to three.

Toms recorded his second birdie of the round at the par-five 11th where he knocked in an eight-footer, but worse was to follow when he three-putted from eight feet to double-bogey 14.

"The double at 14 was inexcusable," Toms told reporters.

"I was in a great spot to get up and down and came away with a six. That's just kind of the way the day went."

Wi, who had also birdied the 11th, trailed Toms by just one stroke at that point when play was suspended for 80 minutes due to the threat of lightning.

Any hope by Toms that he could regain positive momentum during the break proved unfounded after the player returned to the course.

At the par-three 16th, Wi rammed in a 32-foot birdie putt while Toms missed his par attempt there from 15 feet for a two-shot swing as the American finally surrendered the lead.

They each parred the last two holes for Wi to hold a one-stroke advantage going into Sunday's final round.

- Reuters

Tags: sport, golf, united-states

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