Ben Crane leads as weather hits again

When word came that high winds and thunderstorms were on the way, Chris Smith hurried his game at the US Bank Championship on Saturday. Not so Ben Crane.

Crane, a notorious slow player who showed some hustle when he ran between shots to make sure he got his round in before dark Friday night, was on the clock when rains interrupted play for 3 hours, 42 minutes hours at Brown Deer Park on Saturday.

After the restart, Crane finished with a 6-under 64 to take the 54-hole lead at 19-under-par 191, two shots better than playing partner Scott Verplank.

Smith (64) and Kenny Perry (65) were five shots off the lead, tied for third.

``Certainly, you never want to go on the clock. We fell behind today and we had to close the gap,'' Crane said. ``It's one of those things that happened. I'm trying to get better at it.''

Dawdler or not, Crane is trying to become the first wire-to-wire winner in Milwaukee since Robert Gamez in 1991. Crane's only other tour win came at the 2003 BellSouth Classic.

By the time the leaders finished at 8:30 p.m. CDT, fewer than 40 fans were in the gallery on No. 18.

``It's different,'' Crane said. ``It was kind of like last night when we were running in the dark.''

Crane retreated to the clubhouse at 16-under through 49 holes, tied with Verplank, who was on the green at No. 13 with Crane and Jeff Sluman.

Smith, who was three shots off the pace when the rains came, said he made the mistake of rushing his shots when he heard another storm was on its way.

``I was trying to play fast and get as far as we could and I didn't take my time,'' said Smith, who missed birdie putts on his last two holes before the delay. ``I think everybody wants to get done. When they give you word that in 45 minutes, 80 mph winds are going to be here, I think everybody puts it in high gear.''

Not Crane, whose slow play drew the ire of Rory Sabbatini at the Booz Allen Classic last month.

``Yeah, we were on the clock when the rain delay came,'' Verplank said. ``It's bound to happen. I mean, one day Ben is either going to get heavily fined or he's going to play faster, I guess.

``Ben's working on it, I think. He's really a nice guy. And hopefully he'll work on it again tonight and tomorrow. ... He's deliberate.''

Maybe Smith should have been a little more deliberate himself. He had birdied three of four holes to move to minus-13 when he hurried and paid the price.

``I think everybody wants to get done,'' Smith said. ``This is getting old. It wasn't so bad on Thursday, but this is starting to get a little bit old. We want to get done. I think everybody wants to get it done today.''

They tried to get going again at 6:35 p.m. following the fourth delay of the tournament, but thunder and lightning forced tour officials to close the range and send the golfers back to the clubhouse for another half hour.

Rains had delayed the US Bank Championship just one time since 1987. This week's delays have totaled 9 hours, 24 minutes.

Because of the bad weather, 55 bleary-eyed golfers had to return to the course Saturday morning to conclude their second rounds, and 77 made the cut at 2-under-par 138. They went out at noon in threesomes off two tees in hopes of beating the rains.

Instead, they spent more time cooped up inside, whiling away the time regaling each other.

``The same stories that we told on Thursday,'' Smith said. ``I think we're all making up stories now. But you just sit around and try to waste as much time as you can.''

Email this page to a friend | Return to top of page