Strong round gives Na Colonial lead

Lehman in front for Senior PGA Championship

Associated Press

FORT WORTH, TEXAS

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 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,” the 31-year-old 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.

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.

SENIOR PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

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.

The 56-year-old Lehman 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.

BMW PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

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 cutline. 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.