Zach Johnson outshines Jason Dufner at the Crowne Plaza Invitational
Zach Johnson edged past Jason Dufner on the final day of the Crowne Plaza Invitational to take the title for the second time in the history of the event on Sunday, May 27, 2012.
After he made the four-foot par putt on the final green at the Colonial Country Club, he thought as if he won the event with a three-stroke margin.
However, he was later informed that he must sign a double bogey instead of the par, as he forgot to mark his ball after moving it away from Dufner’s putt.
Yet, his final score was enough to earn him the second victory at Colonial and first ever in the last two years.
"There's a number of adjectives I'm calling myself right now. And lucky would be the biggest one," Johnson said. "Blessed would be another one, humbled would be another one. It's an honor to put this jacket on once. ... I'm in shock I got it twice".
Johnson recorded a total of three birdies against three bogeys and a double bogey to finish at a two-over par 72.
In the meantime, the overnight leader Dufner made some wayward shots on the ninth and 15th hole to suffer a double and triple bogey respectively.
Prior to entering the Crowne Plaza Invitational, Dufner recorded two wins in the last three events on the PGA Tour.
Therefore, he was listed among the hot favourites to win the title at Colonial too. Therefore, he made a superb start in the event and took the 54-hole lead with a one-stroke margin over Johnson.
Yet, he failed to win the third title of his career following the faltering performance on Sunday, as he settled for a four-over par 74 to finish one stroke behind Johnson.
"It was not easy," Johnson said. “In some respects I kind of feel like I took down a lion. He's been at the top of the game," said Johnson, who recorded two second-place finishes prior to coming to Colonial.
Tommy Gainey was listed third on the leaderboard after he recorded a three-under par 67 in the final round to register his first top-10 finish of the season.
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