Zach Johnson wins Crowne Plaza Invitational

Zach Johnson finished one shot clear of fellow American Jason Dufner to win the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial Country Club. It was his second victory in the event since 2010.

Zach Johnson wins Crowne Plaza Invitational (Getty Images)

Zach Johnson finished one shot clear of fellow American Jason Dufner to win the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial Country Club. It was his second victory in the event since 2010.

It could have been a different story as Johnson was given a two-stroke penalty on the final hole. The American failed to move his marker back to the correct position after shifting it a putter head length away from Jason Dufner's line. Fortunately, he then holed out and had enough in reserve to win by a shot.

"I'm going to focus on the positives, because I hit a really solid putt and it's a good thing I made it," Johnson said. "No harm, no foul. It was my fault."

The final round was effectively a head-to-head contest between Johnson and Dufner. The 2010 champion held a one-stroke lead coming to the 15th hole and it was the 414-yard par four that would prove to be the turning point.

Dufner's approach touched the left side of the green before rolling into a water hazard. He ended up making a disastrous triple bogey and, when Johnson secured a par, he had a four shot cushion.

For Dufner it was a disappointing day but he was able to remain upbeat. He won last week at the Byron Nelson Championship and has moved into the top-10 on the Official World Golf Ranking. Together with Luke Donald, he's the most on-form golfer in the game at present.

"It was a pretty good run, but a little disappointing today," he said. "I feel pretty good though, just played poorly today."

Tommy "two gloves" Gainey fired a solid final round of 67 to finish the week in third place with Jim Furyk a stroke further back in fourth.

Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial Colonial Country Club, Fort Worth, Texas 24-27 May, purse $6,400,000, par 70

1   Zach Johnson (USA)   64   67   65   72   268   $1,152,000 2   Jason Dufner (USA)   65   64   66   74   269   $691,200 3   Tommy Gainey (USA)   66   67   73   67   273   $435,200 4   Jim Furyk (USA)      69   69   68   68   274   $307,200 T5   Harris English (USA)   65   70   73   67   275   $216,960 T5   Rickie Fowler (USA)   68   68   70   69   275   $216,960 T5   John Huh (USA)      70   66   69   70   275   $216,960 T5   Chris Kirk (USA)      71   69   70   65   275   $216,960 T5   Ryan Palmer (USA)   68   67   70   70   275   $216,960 T10   Jonas Blixt (Swe)      73   67   66   71   277   $160,000 T10   Jonathan Byrd (USA)   72   68   67   70   277   $160,000 T10   Ben Crane (USA)      70   71   68   68   277   $160,000

Note: Player score in bold signifies Titleist ball usage

Where next? European Tour - Luke Donald wins BMW PGA Championship

Fergus Bisset
Contributing Editor

Fergus is Golf Monthly's resident expert on the history of the game and has written extensively on that subject. He is a golf obsessive and 1-handicapper. Growing up in the North East of Scotland, golf runs through his veins and his passion for the sport was bolstered during his time at St Andrews university studying history. He went on to earn a post graduate diploma from the London School of Journalism. Fergus has worked for Golf Monthly since 2004 and has written two books on the game; "Great Golf Debates" together with Jezz Ellwood of Golf Monthly and the history section of "The Ultimate Golf Book" together with Neil Tappin , also of Golf Monthly. 

Fergus once shanked a ball from just over Granny Clark's Wynd on the 18th of the Old Course that struck the St Andrews Golf Club and rebounded into the Valley of Sin, from where he saved par. Who says there's no golfing god?