Na closes with 'good bogey' to lead wet Colonial

Kevin Na looks at the spot his ball landed before bouncing into a rain-swollen drainage culvert adjacent to the 18th fairway where he lost his ball during the second round of the Colonial golf tournament, Friday, May 22, 2015, in Fort Worth, Texas. Na recovered for par on the hole and is the leader at 10-under.
Kevin Na looks at the spot his ball landed before bouncing into a rain-swollen drainage culvert adjacent to the 18th fairway where he lost his ball during the second round of the Colonial golf tournament, Friday, May 22, 2015, in Fort Worth, Texas. Na recovered for par on the hole and is the leader at 10-under.

FORT WORTH -- Kevin Na had gone 26 holes without a bogey at Colonial before his last tee shot Friday was swept away by flowing water after going into a rain-swollen drainage culvert.

Not even that could dampen Na's second round that gave him the lead halfway through the soggy tournament.

Na took the penalty drop near the 17th fairway, and hit a blind approach shot over bleachers to the back side of the 18th green. His two-putt from 20 feet wrapped up a 4-under 66.

"A good bogey," Na said.

At 10-under 130, Na was two strokes ahead of Ian Poulter (67) and three up on 2013 Colonial winner Boo Weekley (69).

Na, 31, also made some long birdie putts. His 30-footer off the fringe at No. 14 came right after rolling in a 22-footer at the 13th, where he broke into a dance for the rowdy fans surrounding the par 3 situated on the edge of Hogan's Alley.

"I want to call it the Big Bird dance. ... It just came out. I wasn't really thinking about it," Na said. "You know, the crowd has been very supportive. I felt like I was from Texas."

Masters champion Jordan Spieth, a real Texan, was alone in the lead without a bogey before losing four strokes in a two-hole span.

Spieth finished with a 73, nine strokes worse than his opening round 64 that had him in a four-way tie on top. He dropped seven strokes back at 3 under, in a crowded tie for 15th place.

"I had a goal in mind, and it was a higher score than [Thursday] given the conditions," said Spieth, the 21-year-old Dallas player playing consecutive weeks at home in North Texas. "I wanted to no blemishes, and then we held that late through 12 holes."

There were periods of steady rain for the morning groups, but no delays. That was after Thursday's first round started three hours late following more than an inch of rain fell overnight.

With more inclement weather expected today, including the possibility of severe storms in the afternoon, players in the third round will be grouped in threesomes instead of the normal twosomes and go off both tees Nos. 1 and 10.

The lead group of Na, Poulter and Weekley are scheduled to tee off around 9 a.m. today, more than 3 1/2 hours earlier than usual for the leaders' group at Colonial.

Heavy rain also was in the forecast Sunday.

Poulter, playing his first Colonial since 2010, had bogeys on his first and last holes Friday. His only bogey Thursday came on his last hole, costing him a share of the first-round lead.

A half-inch adjustment in his putting grip has paid off at Colonial, with only 25 putts in each of the first two rounds.

When going through boxes of pictures to find some to put on the wall in a new guest house he is building, Poulter came across one when he noticed the forefinger of his left hand was in a different spot. He first adjusted during the pro-am round Wednesday.

"It felt pretty good, and obviously it was pretty good [Thursday] and it's continued," he said. "It's angled further down toward the shot. So it's almost more parallel to the shot. ... It's probably only a position of half an inch difference to what it was, but sometimes half an inch makes a big difference on a feel."

Bryce Molder (Conway) fired a 2-under 68 despite bogeying the final two holes and sits at even par for the tournament. David Lingmerth (Arkansas Razorbacks) shot an even-par 70 to make the cut on the number at 1 over.

Ken Duke rallied to birdie the 16th and 17th holes but made bogey on the 18th and missed the cut by a stroke at 2 over.

CHAMPIONS TOUR

Lehman moves in front

FRENCH LICK, Ind. -- Tom Lehman shot a 5-under 67 on the difficult Pete Dye Course at French Lick Resort to take the second-round lead in the Senior PGA Championship.

Lehman, 56, birdied three of his first four holes and finished with six birdies and a bogey to reach 4 under. He had a one-stroke lead over playing partner Colin Montgomerie and Brian Henninger.

Lehman won the 2010 tournament in Colorado.

Montgomerie, the defending champion, had a 69, and Henninger shot 67.

Esteban Toledo was 2 under after a 68. First-round leader Massy Kuramoto had a 72 to drop to fifth at 1 under. Peter Fowler, Woody Austin and Jean Francois Remesy were even par. Fowler birdied the final hole for a 67, Austin shot 71, and Remesy 72.

PGA EUROPEAN

McIlroy misses cut

VIRGINIA WATER, England -- Rory McIlroy missed the cut in the BMW PGA Championship, shooting a 6-over 78 at Wentworth in the European Tour's flagship event.

The top-ranked Northern Irishman finished at 5-over 149, four strokes outside the cut line. He won two of his previous three events, taking the Match Play Championship in San Francisco on May 3 and the Wells Fargo Championship last week in North Carolina.

Italy's Francesco Molinari topped the leaderboard at 10 under after a 69. South Korea's Byeong Hun An was a stroke back after a 64.

Sports on 05/23/2015

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