Watch Matt Kuchar birdie the par-4 fifth hole on Friday.

By Mike McAllister, PGATOUR.COM

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Matt Kuchar and the other golfers with afternoon tee times saw their second rounds delayed Friday for more than two hours. But now that he's on the course, Kuchar is moving up the leaderboard.

With four birdies in his first seven holes, Kuchar -- who ranks fifth in FedExCup points, highest of any player in the field this week -- is now at 9 under and tied with clubhouse leader Graham DeLaet.

Ryan Palmer, the 18-hole leader after his opening 62, also has a share of that lead. Palmer is 1 under on his round through four holes.

Josh Teater, Jordan Spieth and Steve Flesch are all in the clubhouse at 8 under. Freddie Jacobon is another shot back at 7 under.

Flesch, Justin Hicks, David Lingmerth and Chez Reavie currently share the low round of the day at 6-under 64.

The cut line is currently projected at 1 under.

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Following a second-round 64 on Friday at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, Chez Reavie discussed his round with Fred Albers from SiriusXM PGA TOUR Radio.

Reavie is at 6 under through 36 holes and will be looking for his first PGA TOUR win in five years.

By Mike McAllister, PGATOUR.COM

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Steve Flesch had a dream week at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial in 2004 when he won the second of his four PGA TOUR titles. But he's never had the kind of round he produced Friday.

Flesch shot a bogey-free 6-under 64 in the second round, the lowest score of his 53 career rounds at Colonial. The 64 moved him to 8 under through 36 holes and gives him an opportunity to chase down his second title here this weekend.

Flesch's previous low round at Colonial was 66, which he has shot on four previous occasions. But in his last 14 rounds coming into this week, he had posted just one score in the 60s. He's missed the cut in three of his previous four starts here.

On Friday, Flesch hit 16 of 18 greens.

Late in his round, Flesch avoided bogey by rolling in a putt from 7 feet, 7 inches for par at the par-4 eighth.

Watch Jordan Spieth's bounce-back birdie at the seventh hole

By Mike McAllister, PGATOUR.COM

FORT WORTH, Texas -- An unfortunate break at the sixth hole cost 19-year-old Jordan Spieth one stroke in Friday's second round of the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial.

But a bounce-back birdie on the next hole left him feeling upbeat about his chances entering the weekend.

Spieth, the Dallas native, had reached the par-4 sixth 3 under on his round after starting the day on the 10th tee. His approach shot to the sixth landed 20-1/2 feet from the pin. It also landed in a footprint left from one of the earlier players walking off the green.

The ball was in a precarious spot, in between the spike marks. Spieth marked his ball, then placed it in the correct spot. As he took his practice strokes, Spieth saw the ball "start to tilt" due to its proximity with one of the spike marks.

Spieth waited for the ball to stop, then grounded his putter. Right as he did, the ball tumbled down into one of the spike marks.

"My putter did not cause it to move," Spieth said. "I know that for a fact. But it was just a bad break in timing.

"If I had hit the putt two seconds earlier, it would haven't done that. If I waited two seconds longer, I wouldn't have ground my putter."

After consulting with one of his playing parters, Spieth spoke with a rules official, and ultimately called a one-stroke penalty on himself.

"It's an unfortunate ruling," Spieth said. "That's just how it goes."

The change in rules two years ago that prevent penalties on players when the ball moves due to wind conditions while at address did not apply in this case.

"That's only if the wind blows it, or a dog runs over it, or a squirrel knocks it," Spieth said. "I guess gravity isn't part of that. But what the PGA TOUR officials told me after the round is they are looking into changing that."

Spieth acknowledged that he was "pretty upset" about the lost stroke, but he bounced back quickly. His approach shot at the seventh hole rolled a foot to the pin for a bounce-back birdie, his second of the day.

"No. 7 was the most important hole I've played all week so far today," Spieth said.

By Mike McAllister, PGATOUR.COM

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Play was suspended midway through Friday's second round of the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial due to dangerous weather conditions.

Lightning and thunderstorms caused tournament officials to bring in the players from the course at 1:18 p.m. ET (12:18 p.m. ET).

Graham DeLaet is the current leader at 9 under. The Canadian shot a 3-under 67 on Friday morning.

Josh Teater and Jordan Spieth are in the clubhouse at 8 under. Past Colonial champ Steve Flesch is also at 8 under through 15 holes. Flesch is 6 under on his round.

Ryan Palmer, the first-round leader at 8 under, has yet to begin his second round. He was scheduled to tee off at 2:28 p.m. ET.

UPDATE (2:03 p.m. ET): The second round will resume at 2:45 p.m. ET. Players will need to be in position at that time.

UPDATE (2:25 p.m. ET): The horn has blown again. Another thunderstorm is expected to cross over Colonial so players have been brought back in. No word yet on when play will resume.

UPDATE (2:45 p.m. ET): The second round will resume at 3:30 p.m. ET. Players will need to be in position at that time.

UPDATE (3:28 p.m. ET): Play has resumed after a 2 hour, 10 minute delay.

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Following Friday's second-round 67 at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, Josh Teater reflects on his play with Fred Albers from SiriusXM PGA TOUR Radio.

Teater is 8 under through two rounds and will be among the contenders going into the weekend at Colonial.

Jim Furyk is in position to make another run at his first Colonial title. (How/Getty Images)

By Mike McAllister, PGATOUR.COM

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Jim Furyk hit just four of 14 fairways in Thursday's opening round of the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial. Considering that accuracy fuels his game -- he ranks seventh in driving accuracy on the PGA TOUR this year -- it was a rare momentarily lapse off the tees.

And yet he still managed a sub-par round, shooting a 1-under 69.

On Friday, Furyk delivered his usual tricks. He hit 12 of 14 fairways, as well as 16 of 18 greens, en route to a 4-under 66 that leaves him at 5 under for the tournament and in good position to contend on the weekend.

"I just wasn't getting the ball in the fairway yesterday," Furyk said. "I put the ball in play today. And really felt good with the putter again. It takes a lot of pressure off your iron game."

Furyk rolled in five putts from outside 10 feet on Friday, including a 37-footer at the par-4 14th.

But his biggest putt may have been at the par-4 fifth, traditionally the hardest hole at Colonial. His approach landed inside 12 feet, and he drained the putt.

"That's stealing one, fo sure," Furyk said. "... Leaving there with a par feels good, so a birdie is a real big deal."

Furyk counts Colonial as one of his favorite courses, as it caters to shot-makers. Making his 18th appearance, Furyk has seven top-10 finishes, including a fourth place last year.

"It's changed over the years," Furyk said of Colonial. "It's a lot greener now. They irrigate it a lot more. The scores are a touch lower, but it's still a great golf course.

"You have to work the ball out here, and it's tough to get the ball in the fairways. It's not overly long but it's still got a little teeth to it."

Graham DeLaet is looking for his first PGA TOUR win this week. (Stan Badz/PGA TOUR)

By Mike McAllister, PGATOUR.COM

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Despite making two previous starts in the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, Graham DeLaet had never heard of the "Horrible Horseshoe" until Friday.

Now he knows how that stretch of holes -- the par-4 third, par-3 fourth and par-4 fifth, the toughest three holes in Colonial history -- got its nickname.

DeLaet bogeyed all three holes but the Canadian still managed a second-round 3-under 67 that left him atop the leaderboard at 9 under when he walked off the course.

DeLaet, who began his round off the 10th tee, entered the Horrible Horseshoe on a stretch of three consecutive birdies, but he gave all those strokes away just as quickly.

"Those are tough, strong holes," DeLaet said. "They will probably be the difference in the golf tournament."

But if DeLaet manages his first PGA TOUR win this week -- his best finish on TOUR was a tie for third at the 2010 Shell Houston Open -- he may look back at his finishing stretch in the second round as a key moment.

DeLaet rolled in a birdie putt of 28 feet, 7 inches for birdie at the eighth, then followed with another birdie from just inside 12 feet on his final hole, the par-4 ninth to claim the clubhouse lead midway through the day.

"I got myself right back in it," DeLaet said of his two late birdies.

DeLaet has three top-10 finishes in 14 starts this year, including a tie for 10th last week at the HP Byron Nelson Championship. In each of those top-10 finishes, his first two rounds have been lower than his weekend rounds.

"I felt like I've had a couple of good chances that I've squandered a little bit either on the weekend or a couple of bad dswings here and there," DeLaet said.

"My game feels good and I'm making some putts here the last couple of days, which always helps."

FORT WORTH, Texas -- D.H. Lee became the second golfer to withdraw from the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial on Friday with a back injury.

Lee , who shot 76 in the first round, had played 14 holes in the second round after starting his round on the 10th hole. Lee was 6 over on his round and had just triple bogeyed the par-4 fifth when he withdrew. Lee was 12 over for the tournament at the time.

Earlier in the day, Patrick Cantlay withdrew during his round with a back injury.

Zach Johnson and Jason Dufner are paired again at Colonial (Halleran/Getty Images)

By Mike McAllister, PGATOUR.COM

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Seeing Zach Johnson and Jason Dufner paired together at a PGA TOUR event has become a familiar scene. Especially at Colonial.

A year ago at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, Johnson and Dufner were paired in the final two rounds of what essentially turned into match play for the title, as the two separated themselves from the rest of the field. Johnson eventually claimed his second title at Colonial, with Dufner finishing second.

This week, they are playing the first two rounds together, along with last week's winner of the HP Byron Nelson Championship, Sang-Moon Bae. The threesome tees off Friday at 1:33 p.m. ET.

"I totally enjoy it," Johnson, who opened his title defense with a 1-under 69, said about playing with Dufner. "We've always gotten along very, very well. We kind of went through the ranks together from the Web.com to the TOUR."

Said Dufner, who started with a 3-under 67: "It's always good playing with Zach."

Last year's Colonial weekend served as the first of many pairings for Johnson and Dufner the rest of the year. Because of their proximity to each other in FedExCup points during the Playoffs last year, they were paired in the first two rounds at the Deutsche Bank Championship, the first two rounds of the BMW Championship and the first round of the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola.

Then, of course, they were teammates on the U.S. squad at the Ryder Cup. They won both of their foursomes matches and lost one four-ball match.

Thursday was the first time they had been paired together this year.

"We're pretty familiar with each other's games," Dufner said. "We kind of play a similar game, so it's kind of easy to club off and kind of see how the course is playing."

Said Johnson: "I'd say his ballstriking is a little more consistent than mine overall, but for the most part, we're both pretty consistent."

Having played against and alongside Dufner for the past year, Johnson has come to appreciate his stoic nature.

"He plays very a-motional golf, I would say," Johnson said. "I like that. I like watching it. I like being around that.

"Plus, he's a good friend."

JOHNSON-DUFNER PAIRINGS SINCE 2012

JOHNSON-DUFNER AT 2012 RYDER CUP