Jason Dufner holds 2-stroke lead midway through Colonial

FORT WORTH, Texas — Jason Dufner lists Ben Hogan as his hero.

At Hogan’s Alley, Dufner had the lead halfway through the Colonial with a chance for a Texas two-step that only Hogan has accomplished.

Dufner had a bogey-free 6-under 64 on another windy day Friday to reach 11-under 129. A week after winning the Byron Nelson Championship, Dufner had a two-stroke lead over Zach Johnson — the 2010 winner who shot a 67.

The only player to win both PGA Tour events in the Dallas-Fort Worth market in the same year was Hogan in 1946.

“That would be great company to join, obviously,” Dufner said. “To have anything compared to him or be talked in the same sentence with him is something that would be pretty unique and special to me.”

With the way Dufner is playing these days, his game certainly is in a different class.

Both of Dufner’s PGA Tour victories came in his previous three starts. He has led or shared the lead after 11 of his last 34 rounds.

“When I step to the first tee, I feel like I’m going to play a good round of golf. That’s a nice way to play. It’s a comfortable way to play,” Dufner said. “I’m just trying to be confident and think about the things I’ve been doing for almost a year now, and realize that those are the things that are making me successful out here, and not get too caught up in everything else that’s going on around me.”

Johnson, who had an opening bogey-free 64, started the second round eagle-birdie-bogey. Then there was a four-hole stretch on the back nine when he alternated birdies and bogeys twice.

During the third round Saturday, Johnson will be paired with his buddy Dufner.

“He’s got a good rhythm about him, about his game right now,” Johnson said. “But it’s irrelevant who I play with. I’m not playing against him. I’m playing against the golf course and the conditions and the elements that are presented. So that’s my focus.”

Two years ago, Johnson set the Colonial tournament scoring record at 21-under 259 en route to the last of his seven PGA Tour victories.

Van Pelt (64) and Tommy Gainey (67) were tied for third at 133, a stroke better than Tom Gillis (69).

Defending Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial champion David Toms shot a 71 and missed the cut at 5-over 145.

With the wind again blowing steady about 20 mph with higher gusts, Dufner stood in the middle of the fairway at No. 5, his 14th hole of the day. Dufner stepped back twice before changing clubs, then hit the approach to about 18 feet for his sixth and last birdie.

That is the end of Colonial’s “horrible horseshoe” — as Nos. 3-5 are known because of their layout and with the longest par 4s sandwiching a 243-yard par 3.

Dufner has played those holes 4 under through two rounds, and wasn’t even aware of the trio’s reputation.

“It’s just a product of playing well and having good control of my golf ball,” he said. “It doesn’t really matter what holes you’re playing.”

Starting on the back nine, Dufner had two birdies, a 5-footer at the 166-yard 13th hole and 7-footer at the 363-yard 17th. He then birdied Nos. 1-3 for the second day in a row.

“I got off to a great start. … I had a chance to catch Dufner, is he not hot right now,” said Gainey, who opened his round with three consecutive birdies before bogeys at Nos. 7 and 8. “I got hot and then let a couple get away.”

After Colonial, Dufner — who got married between his two victories — plans to take a short break before beginning preparations for the next major. The U.S. Open is in three weeks at The Olympic Club in San Francisco.

The 35-year-old Dufner, who has moved up to 14th in the world, had consecutive weekend rounds of 75 at the Masters and tied for 24th after starting 69-70.

It was during the final round of the PGA Championship last August when Dufner had consecutive bogeys on holes No. 15-17. That cost him the lead and forced him into a three-hole playoff that he lost to Keegan Bradley.

“I think it helped me out a lot this year. It kind reaffirmed the things that I was doing was right, and I was on the right direction and right path,” he said. “I didn’t think too much about losing. I just thought about all of the good things that happened. … I think at the PGA kind of showed me that I could really play at a high level.”

Divots: Sergio Garcia, the ’01 Colonial champ, followed his opening 66 with a 73. That included an 8 on the 387-yard ninth hole when he hit his approach into the water fronting the green, and then knocked his drop in there as well. … Ben Crane (141), who lives just north of Fort Worth, finished his second-round 71 with an eagle at the ninth hole. He holed a wedge shot from 104 yards. … Harrison Frazar missed the cut with rounds of 72 and 74. He still had a highlight Friday, a hole-in-one with an 8-iron at the 183-yard 16th. … The last of 14 players to win both the Colonial and Byron Nelson Championship was Rory Sabbatini, at the 2007 Colonial and 2009 Nelson. When Hogan did it in 1946, the tournaments weren’t played in consecutive weeks.