Crowne Plaza Invitational 2012: Zach Johnson Edges Jason Dufner

Following his win at the 2012 BMW PGA Championship, Luke Donald regained the No. 1 spot atop the 2012 World Golf Rankings, ahead of Rory McIlroy. Donald dominated at Wentworth Club, shooting 11-under for a four-stroke victory over his next closest competitor.

Donald and McIlroy have traded the title several times this year. McIlroy held the title for three consecutive weeks after his second-place finish at the 2012 Wells Fargo Championship, until Donald put on a show for the PGA Championship. McIlroy, meanwhile, struggled mightily at Wentworth, missing his second consecutive PGA cut.

It’s a good thing Zach Johnson had two shots to spare at the end of his final round on Sunday because a not-so-funny thing happened to the eight-time PGA Tour winner on his way to donning that hideous plaid jacket given to the winner of the Crowne Plaza Invitational.

Johnson splashed out of a green-side bunker on 18, marked his ball and moved it to make way for playing partner Jason Dufner’s putt. He then made his par putt to win the Texas tourney by three. Except for one thing: he forgot to move his marker back before holing his putt, which he learned from a tour official as he walked off the green.

Zach Johnson may have a win in the bag at the Crowne Plaza Invitational after Jason Dufner needed seven strokes on the par-four 15th.

Dufner’s first mistake was an approach shot that rolled off the green, over some rough and plopped into the water. Then, after finally getting it onto the green, he knocked it close but then missed a four-foot putt to add another stroke to his hole. He’s +5 over his last eight holes

Johnson had a two-stroke lead after birdieing 11 while Dufner bogeyed, but gave it back on the par-four 12th. Johnson gave up a stroke after hitting into the sand trap, as his first attempt to leave the sand hit the lip of the trap and ended up about five feet behind where the initial shot was taken. He bogeyed the hole while Dufner birdied to see them tied at 14-under. Later, Johnson nailed a 15-foot putt on the 14th to give him the one-stroke lead.

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The leaders have entered the back nine at the Crowne Plaza Invitational, and on one hole, Zach Johnson opened up a lead two clear of Jason Dufner.

Dufner hit the bunker on the right side of the green on the par-5 11th and then missed a putt short from about 10 feet to earn a bogey. Meanwhile, Johnson birdied the hole to go to 15-under. Dufner is the world’s hottest golfer right now, but he’s not having the best final day in Fort Worth, as he’s currently at two over on the day.

It’s a two-man race on the final day at Colonial, as Jason Dufner and Zach Johnson nearly doubled up the field with plenty of red numbers in the first three rounds. Dufner is the hottest player in the world, and after firing a 64 on Friday morning, it looked like he might run away with back-to-back wins in the Dallas-Forth Worth area. His idol, Ben Hogan, is the only other player to win both venerable tournaments held in the metroplex area in the same year. Dufner tripped up on his inward nine on Saturday, bogeying Nos. 14 and 16 to prevent what would have been another super-low round.

Dufner carried that over to Sunday’s final found, starting with a hiccup at the second. The bogey at No. 2 led to a two-shot swing, as Johnson birdied to take a one-shot lead at 15-under. Dufner had a birdie put from just inside 30 feet and instead of lagging for par, he made an aggressive play, putting it five feet past the cup. He missed the comebacker for a three-putt bogey. It was his first three-putt of the week. Dufner was particularly aggressive because Johnson’s approach shot was within 11 feet, and the Iowan converted the birdie.

The 2012 Crowne Plaza International is on its final day. Though the very top of the leaderboard won’t tee off until a little before 1:00 p.m. ET, there is still plenty action going on further down. The biggest mover so far Sunday is Kevin Na, who is 4-under through 11 holes to put himself on the cusp of the top 10 at Fort Worth’s Colonial Country Club.

Na’s day has featured four birdies so far, all on the front nine. He had at least one bogey on the front nine in his previous three rounds, but has managed to stay relatively mistake-free Sunday. Na has jumped 35 spots on the leaderboard into 16th place, and is now two shots out of a tie for seventh. He came into the day at 2-over overall and has since dropped his score to 2-under.

Jason Dufner’s got a great chance at earning his second straight PGA Tour win at the 2012 Crowne Plaza Invitational on Sunday. But he’ll probably have to fend off Zach Johnson and no one else in the final round.

Dufner fired a 4-under 66 on Saturday to drop to 15-under after three rounds at Fort Worth’s Colonial Country Club, but Johnson made up a stroke on Dufner with a 5-under 65 that moved him to 14-under for the tournament.

The leaders have made the turn on moving day at the 2012 Crowne Plaza Invitational and Zach Johnson poured in four birdies on the front side to tie Jason Dufner at 13-under atop the leaderboard. On Friday morning, it looked like Dufner could run away with it and secure back-to-back victories with a convincing performance at Colonial. But Johnson shot a 67 in the afternoon to stay in the hunt and then got hot on the first nine of his third round.

Johnson started with two birdies right out of the gate and completed his bogey-free front side with another birdie on No. 9. He went out in 31, just one shot off his blistering outward 30 on Thursday. He did it once again with a hot putter, stroking it just eight times on the front side. Dufner, however, went toe-to-toe with Johnson and went out in 33 to continue his form. They both made the turn five shots clear of the field and are threatening to make it a runaway two-man race on Sunday.

Saturday marks the third round of the 2012 Crowne Plaza Invitational in Ft. Worth, TX. Jason Dufner enters the day with a two-stroke advantage atop the leaderboard, but has yet to tee off. Some other golfers are making some early moves on Saturday before the leaders have started their third round.

Dufner is in the lead at 11-under, with Zach Johnson two strokes behind at 9-under. Tied for third place are Bo Van Belt and Tommy Gainey, both at 7-under.

Jason Dufner is looking for his third career PGA Tour win at the 2012 Crowne Plaza Invitational this week. He’ll head into the weekend with the lead after a stellar second round at the Colonial Country Club course.

Dufner shot a 6-under 64 on Friday to move to 11-under for the tournament. His bogey-free round, started off by three consecutive birdies and four on his first five holes, made him the only player in double-digit red numbers entering the weekend.

During the second round of the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, Kevin Na and his fellow group competitors - John Huh and Aaron Baddeley - were put on the clock by an official for slow play. Na would immediately make three bogies before finishing the round with two birdies.

Needless to say, Na was less than pleased with the decision.“We were in position all day. We were waiting the first few holes. I’m constantly looking where we are in position. Off the sixth tee we were in perfect position, off the seventh tee we were doing fine, we were in perfect position. We struggled a little bit on eighth, the par-3, as a group because we had long shots and long putts coming in and we stand on nine and we get off the tee and they are telling us we are on the clock. I get on nine green and I look down 10 fairway and they are on the green. We have an 11-minute interval and we are in position. After I putted on the hole I called them over and said, ‘Look, we’re in position, we shouldn’t be on the clock.’ That’s all.”

Kevin Na deserves a seriously hearty golf clap and tip o’ the visor for completely overhauling his approach to the game.

The 28-year-old golfer, whose maddeningly meticulous pre-shot routine at The Players Championship shone a spotlight on slow play in golf, unveiled a new look during Thursday’s opening round of the Crowne Plaza Invitational. The wiggles, squirms, back-offs and intentional whiffs were nowhere to be seen, as Na scored an even-par 70. Instead, the guy whom goons mercilessly ridiculed for his quirky methods during The Players sped his way around Colonial Country Club with very few rehearsal shots.

Zach Johnson still holds a one-shot lead as the opening round of the Crowne Plaza Invitational progresses at Colonial.

The 2010 winner at Colonial started hot out of the gates, going out in 30 on a first nine holes that featured four straight birdies. He drained over 100 feet of putts in just the first seven holes as he was unconscious with the putter on a course that’s suited him well throughout his career. Johnson maintained his bogey-free round on the back side but posted just one more birdie en route to a 6-under 64.

Rickie Fowler is a fun dude. He’s also a responsible role model, as evident by his charity work in conjunction with this week’s Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial. But who said you can’t have fun while also helping others through charity? From the looks of Fowler and his caddy, any time is a good time to goof off.

Along with Fowler, the entire PGA TOUR roster competing this week will be working even harder to shoot low scores over the weekend to support the Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts “Charity Foursome” program, benefiting four charities -- Birdies for the Brave, Shelter In A Storm, Cook Children’s Medical Center and The First Tee of Fort Worth, Texas.

Unlike Masters champ Bubba Watson, who would like to bust some moves on “America’s Got Talent,” newly crowned Byron Nelson champ Jason Dufner harbors no illusions about his off-course waggle skills.

“Yeah, dancing -- not my strongest point,” Dufner, chuckling, said while viewing a video replay of the first promenade he and his new wife shared at their May 5 wedding. “That’ll probably be the first and last time I dance in 2012. Hard to fit in dance lessons while you’re out here playing on the road trying to win tournaments.”