Ben Crane, PGA Tour veteran, could have been one the passengers on the TV series Manifest. This is where passengers and crew of commercial airlinesrs suddenly reappear after being dead for five years.
The 46-year old Oregon Duck grad has won five times on PGA Tour but has not finished in the top 125 to win the FedEx Cup since 2016. His last top-10 finish was in 2019. The 2019 Puerto Rico Open. Is the five-time Tour winner, with more than $21 million in earnings, lost in the Bermuda Triangle. His game was found there this week. Crane broke a career record with a 9-under-62, bogey-free round at Port Royal Golf Course, Southampton, Bermuda. This was enough to give Crane the 36-hole lead in the Butterfield Bermuda Champion.
Crane stated, “I mean. Couldn’t be more encouraging,” after shooting a total of 14-under 128 for the two-day. This was a stroke higher than the five other golfers. “Obviously played some of the best golf I have ever played and it was a great honor to be able to play four rounds in this tournament.”
Crane was not in the field Sunday. He was still on the alternate list. However, a friend of the tournament called Crane and told him that he would fly to Bermuda to take his chances.
Crane said that he told Crane, “Hey, they got you, and we took you as a sponsor exempt from the field,” Crane recalled. “I don’t get in much and then to get out and the weather starts getting worse right after I finish. It was so cool to shoot 62. It’s 29 on the back. I didn’t know it was there, but it makes for a great day.
Crane was also awarded the shot of the Day by Golf Channel. He holled a 51-degree wedge at 115 yards to make an eagle from sixth fairway.
Ben Crane flew an EAGLE 115 yards from his home to get to Friday 62 at the @Bermuda_Champ.
: Golf Channel and @peacock pic.twitter.com/7KYwRJ5Sc1
Golf Channel (@GolfChannel October 28, 2022
Crane said, “Sometimes you kinda picture them, you can look up and it’s man, that was exactly like I pictured it. Lined up with the pin and landed a few paces past the hole, spun back, and went in.” “I was having an amazing day, and then that happened. “Wow, everything is going my way,” I thought.
Crane, who won his last title in 2014, and was a past champion in only 10 events, spoke out about how easy it is to lose a game.
He explained that a single slipped shot can cause you to lose confidence. It was something I said to my son, who is 14 years old and just starting to learn the game. Golf’s hard. Today was one such special day, one of a thousand or whatever it was where it all just sort of comes together.
Crane was thrilled to have his first lead at a Tour race since 2017.
