Molder rides birdie streak to Colonial lead with Spieth lurking

Bryce Molder started slowly but finished fast, with a 91-minute weather delay breaking up his round on the way to the top of the leader board at the Dean & DeLuca Invitational.

A participant in Thursday’s first group off the tee, Molder closed with four consecutive birdies to post a 6-under-par 64 that no one could match during a day marked by morning lightning flashes and swirling afternoon winds at Colonial Country Club.

That combination stymied several of Molder’s highest-profile pursuers, with past Colonial champs Adam Scott (72) and Zach Johnson (72) among the notable names who must pick up the pace to survive the 36-hole cut after Friday’s second round.

But a return to Colonial proved positive for Dallas resident Jordan Spieth, who rediscovered the proper side of par after Sunday’s swoon took him out of title contention at the AT&T Byron Nelson. Spieth, the No. 2 player in the world golf rankings and last year’s Colonial runner-up, balanced four birdies and one bogey during an opening 67 that left him three strokes off the pace.

It marked a significant upgrade from Spieth’s closing 74 at the Nelson. It also added star power to a Colonial leader board that includes Spring resident Patrick Reed (65), the No. 13 player in the world rankings, as well as Webb Simpson (65), Anirban Lahiri (65) and two Tarrant County golfers: Ryan Palmer (66) and Martin Piller (66).

Palmer, a Colleyville resident and Colonial member, limited himself to a lone bogey on his home course while Piller, a Fort Worth resident making his Colonial debut, collected six birdies on his last nine holes to surface among the leaders.

While the lead belongs to Molder, the buzz surrounded Spieth after his bounce-back 67 while battling 20 mph wind gusts that did not impact the morning starters.

“I’m very excited. This round, I played much better than the 6 under in the first round last week,” Spieth said, reflecting on his hot start at the Nelson, where he played his way into Sunday’s final group before backsliding to a tie for 18th place. “Given the conditions this afternoon, that was a solid round on a very, very difficult golf course.”

“Anything under par this afternoon was a good round of golf,” said Spieth, who termed Simpson’s afternoon 65 “a fantastic round of golf … better than the way anybody else played.”

But the lead belongs to Molder, who started at No. 10 and posted nine consecutive pars to begin his round. But he closed with a front-nine 29, one stroke off the course record, that concluded with consecutive birdie putts over the final four holes from 11 feet (No. 6), 20 feet (No. 7), 11 feet (No. 8) and 19 feet (No. 9).

“We got pretty fortunate when we came back out because the wind died down for a couple of hours,” said Molder, who responded with his late birdie barrage. “It really wasn’t supposed to, so we got fortunate. At the end of the round, I happened to hit four pretty good putts and they all went in.”

Simpson, playing in his first Colonial since 2010, dropped six birdie putts and found 13 of 18 greens in regulation while battling the afternoon winds. Because of a newborn child in the house, he tweaked his spring playing schedule and added a trip to Fort Worth into this year’s mix.

By posting the lowest score of Thursday’s afternoon starters, Simpson showed he can handle the Colonial layout despite finishing with missed cuts in his only prior appearances (2009, 2010).

“I’m comfortable here even though I haven’t been here in six years,” said Simpson, a former Wake Forest golfer who won the 2012 U.S. Open. “These greens are bent grass and they roll really well. They remind me of what I grew up on. But it feels nice to finally post a good number. It’s been quite a few weeks.”

This story was originally published May 26, 2016 at 9:00 PM with the headline "Molder rides birdie streak to Colonial lead with Spieth lurking."