Round 4: Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial

Two bogeys in his last three holes were frustrating, to be sure. But Corey Pavin had kept pace with the leaders all day long, so he couldn’t be too disappointed with his closing 67 and tie for seventh.

The 50-year-old, who will captain the U.S. Ryder Cup team in Wales in October, will return to the Champions Tour next week for the Principals Charity Classic. But his decision to play in a PGA TOUR event he had won twice before turned out to be a good one.                          

"I put myself in a good position coming down the stretch," Pavin said. "It was just a little too much ground to pick up, I think all in all.  But a disappointing finish the way I did.

"But I had a putt on 17 that lipped out, which I couldn’t believe it did.  And that was kind of the end as far as having a chance to win.  But, you know, I played hard all day.  I played hard all week.  I played well.  I’m happy with the way I played all in all. 

"Any time I go a round on a course and 67 is my worse score for the week, that’s pretty good at Colonial.  Even for a young guy as opposed to an old guy like me, so I’m happy." 

Pavin said it was the easiest he had seen Colonial play over four days. But there was no wind to help defend the course.

"It’s still a hard golf course, and you have to execute,” Pavin said. “But it was there to be had. And if you are playing good golf and hitting the ball well, a lot of 10, 12 footers out here for birdie when you do that.

"But I’ve never seen it play this benign ever and now the scores are showing that."