Zach Johnson Barely Wins 2012 Crowne Plaza Invitational After Costly Mistake

Even though Zach Johnson was able to pull through and win the 2012 Crowne Plaza Invitational on Sunday, he could have lost it with a costly mistake on the last hole.

Both Zach Johnson and Jason Dufner came into the event red hot, as Dufner had won two events in less than a month’s time while Johnson had two runner-up finishes over the same stretch.  Johnson came out firing on all cylinders for the first round of the event with a 64, but was soon surpassed by Dufner on the second day as Jason shot a 64 of his own to follow up a 65. Dufner followed it up with another solid round on Saturday with a 66 to take a one stroke lead over Zach Johnson heading into the final day.

It was really a tale of two tournaments at the Crowne Plaza Invitational this year, as both Dufner and Johnson were seven shots ahead of the nearest competitor heading into the final day of the event.  Right from the get-go on Sunday, however, Dufner just seemed uncomfortable from the start, and it showed on the second hole of the day as he made bogey.  Johnson made birdie on the hole to take a one stroke lead over Dufner, and both players would go on to swap the lead back and forth heading into the 15^th.

It would prove to be the turning point for the entire event, as Dufner ended up making triple bogey on the hole to give Zach Johnson a commanding lead with only a handful of holes to go.  Again, it had to do with Dufner’s driving, as he hit his tee shot into the fairway bunker to begin the hole.  He made a controversial decision to go for the green from the bunker even though there was water just left of the hole if he were to mishit the shot in any way, but hit the shot anyways.  As expected, the ball kept rolling to the left once it hit the green and eventually went into the water.  Johnson had a one stroke lead heading into the hole, and it soon ballooned to a four stroke lead after that. 

Dufner was able to ride the ship and make par on the last three holes, and all Johnson had to do was to go three over par or better over the last three holes and the event was hit.  He made a mistake on hole 16 that cost him a bogey, but after a par on 17 and a great tee and approach shot on 18 it was all but over.  That is, until Johnson forgot to replace his ball mark on the green before knocking in the winning putt from about 5 feet away.  He was in Dufner’s putting line, and Johnson moved his ball marker out of the way but forgot to put it back, and that resulted in a two stroke penalty.  It would have been a lot more interesting had Johnson missed that 5 foot putt, but he was able to knock it in for his first win of the year.