Johnson weathers two delays, sets record

Two stoppages in play caused by threatening storms that never fully materialized put a damper on Zach Johnson's three-stroke victory over Brian Davis in the Crowne Plaza Invitational yesterday.

Oldgolfdawg turned the channel during the first stoppage to watch Tom Lehman win the Senior PGA Championship in Denver on the first hole of an anticlimatic playoff against Fred Couples and David Frost and never did see Johnson wrap up his victory. But he couldn't help but wonder if the weather delays in Texas weren't a sign of things to come at the Memorial, a tournament with a rich history of such interruptions.

Johnson, who plans to play this week in Jack Nicklaus' Memorial tournament, closed with a a 6-under-par 64 to set the a scoring record at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, with a 72-hole total of 21-under 259. The 2007 Masters champion came away with a plaid jacket given to the winner and a check for $1.116 million.

Davis, a 35-year-old Englishman still seeking his first PGA Tour victory, had a chance to get within a stroke of Johnson on the 17th hole, but his 8-foot birdie putt failed to stay in the cup. Trailing Johnson by two strokes heading up the 72nd hole, Davis needed a hole-out eagle on the par 4, but ended up with a bogey and a 68.

Davis finished alone in second at 262. Jeff Overton and Ben Crane, who both carded 67s, tied for third at 263.

In earning his seventh PGA Tour victory, Johnson joined Phil Mickelson in being the only players who have tour wins in each of the last four seasons (2007-2010). Mickelson missed the cut at Colonial at 4 over when he could have been the No. 1 player in the world with a victory.

Mickelson will pursue that goal again this week at the Memorial where six of the top 10 players in the world rankings and nine of the top 10 on the tour money list will play, including top-ranked Tiger Woods.

Information from the Associated Press contributed to this post.