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"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.
[Associated Press;
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