Zach Johnson leads at Colonial

Associated Press

FORT WORTH, Texas

Zach Johnson stood behind the fourth green looking at his club and then the ball that rolled within 4 feet of the hole.

“I got lucky,” Johnson said about his second shot on the 244-yard par 3 — his 13th hole Thursday — after his tee shot went through the green and stopped in a clump of grass.

Three holes later, Johnson was so deep in a greenside bunker that he couldn’t even be seen from the other side of the green until he popped up to watch his blast over the ridge to 21/2 feet from the cup.

Those par-savers were part of a bogey-free 6-under 64 that gave him a one-stroke lead after the first round in the Colonial, where 20-30 mph wind with higher gusts whipped through the big oak trees lining the fairways.

“Today was great. I got off to a good start, just hit some quality shots. I didn’t put myself ever in a position that was too worrisome,” Johnson said. “I kept the golf course in front me. I attacked when I could attack. I had a couple of nice saves when I needed it. ... I’ve got zero complaints.”

Jason Dufner, rookie Harris English, Tom Gillis and Kyle Reifers were tied for second.

Dufner started with three consecutive birdies, was 5 under after a 10-foot birdie putt at the 174-yard eighth hole, then overcame two bogeys in a three-hole stretch.

Johnson opened with a 40-foot birdie putt at the 396-yard 10th hole on way to his 13th consecutive under-par round at Hogan’s Alley. He set the Colonial tournament scoring record with his 21-under 259 in 2010, when he had a pair of 64s in his last PGA Tour victory.

After hitting into a greenside bunker at the 435-yard 12th, he blasted to 9 feet to save par.

“The big putt that got me going,” he said. He then had four consecutive birdies, a span that included two par 3s and all the putts between 14-21 feet.