Zach Johnson posts 3-under 67 to stay in the hunt at Colonial

Fort Worth, Texas — Zach Johnson is one of the quieter guys on the PGA Tour. But following Friday’s 3-under 67 (his 14th consecutive round in the 60s at Colonial), he waltzed into the media center, grabbed PGA Tour media official John Bush’s microphone and bellowed, “Zach Johnson is in the hooooouseee.”

It was a moment where you had to do a double-take to confirm it was indeed Johnson having a little fun. But the way he’s played at Colonial over the years, nobody should be surprised to see him enjoying himself this week.

For Johnson, Colonial has been a personal playground of sorts over the years. In six starts prior to this year, he’s never finished outside the top 30, posting four top-15 finishes and a win in 2010.

On Friday, he managed to build on his opening-round 6-under 64 with another solid showing that included four birdies and an eagle. Riding a hot putter, he’s currently second in the field in strokes gained this week (3.263) and T3 in putts per GIR (1.560).

A day after his putting allowed him to go low on Thursday, it kept him close to the lead during the second round, as Johnson got up-and-down from a number of tricky spots, picking up a couple tough par saves 15th and 17th holes.

“I made some good saves out there,” Johnson said. ” … then got some momentum going on the back but it seems like every time I made a birdie I put myself in a pretty difficult predicament to make par. But I finished strong.”

The way Jason Dufner’s playing at the moment, Johnson needed to do everything in his power to remain within a couple of shots of the hottest golfer on the planet. It’s impossible to go against Dufner at the moment, but the way Johnson’s played at Colonial in the past and his current form of late — he posted two second-place finishes in his last three events — you have to like his chances going into the weekend.

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