Zach Johnson leads at Colonial

Johnson, whose last PGA Tour victory came at this event two years ago, owns a
one-shot lead over a slew of players, including the hottest golfer in the
world.

Jason Dufner, who picked up his second in three weeks on Sunday at the Byron
Nelson, posted a five-under 65 and is tied for second place.

Dufner, who in the span of a month, not only notched has his first two PGA
Tour wins, but also got married, flew out of the gate on Thursday with four
birdies in his first five holes. He mixed three birdies and two bogeys the
rest of the way for his share of second.

“A nice way to start,” said Dufner, who owns four 36-hole leads this season on
tour. “I’ve had a pretty solid last three or four years. I was happy to get a
five-under.”

Dufner is tied for second with Tom Gillis, Harris English and Kyle Reifers and
Dufner isn’t the only one who is playing great golf at the moment.

English went 60-63 earlier in the week to easily qualify for the British Open.
Gillis has made seven consecutive cuts and Reifers got into the field this
week after Scott Verplank withdrew.

Sergio Garcia, who picked up his first PGA Tour victory at Colonial 11 years
ago, shot a four-under 67 and shares sixth with Chris DiMarco, Tommy Gainey
and Andres Romero.

They are all chasing Johnson, who is in fine form after his tie for second two
weeks ago at The Players Championship.

Johnson began on the 10th tee Thursday and opened with a long birdie putt at
the 10th. He parred the next two then went on a run that shot him to the top
of the leaderboard.

At the par-three 13th, Johnson rolled in a 14-footer for birdie. He narrowly
missed the fairway at 14, but managed to knock his second to 16 feet and
poured in the putt for back-to-back birdies.

Johnson kept the momentum going with a 17-foot birdie putt at 15, then made it
four in a row at the par-three 16th when his 21-footer found the bottom of the
cup.

He stood five-under par for the championship and parred four in a row around
the turn. At the par-four third, Johnson sank a 15-foot birdie try to get to
minus-six.

Johnson made some decent birdie chances on the way into the clubhouse, but
failed to convert. His 64 held up throughout the day and he is the first-round
leader.

“I struck the golf ball really nice,” Johnson said in a televised interview.
“The times when I was maybe just in the rough and I had to get myself up and
down, I managed to do that.

“I gave myself a lot of opportunities. I made some long putts, but I missed
some shorter ones, so it probably evened out in the end.”

Ryan Moore, Daniel Summerhays, Roberto Castro, Brendon de Jonge and Brandt
Jobe are knotted in 10th place at three-under 67.

NOTES: Hunter Mahan, who is the only player with two wins this year on tour,
shot a one-under 69 on Thursday…John Daly, making a rare appearance on the
PGA Tour, had an even-par 70 in round one…Players Championship winner Matt
Kuchar struggled to a two-over 72…Defending champion David Toms carded a
four-over 74…Brian Davis withdrew on Thursday.