Ben Crane fired a 3-under-par 31-38=69 in the final round of THE PLAYERS and is the first to post 7-under 281.
Crane was hot early in his round, rattling off four consecutive birdies beginning with the second and running through the fifth hole. Easily the highlight of that run was a 61'11" bomb on the par-3 third. He then traded a birdie at nine for a bogey at 10, then repeated that feat with a birdie on 12 and a bogey at 15 before dropping a final shot of the day at the difficult par-4 18th. It was the putter that did the heavy lifting, picking up over three strokes on the field at the time he signed his card. He now heads to Texas for the HP Byron Nelson Championship.

Ben Crane posted a 3-under-par 34-35=69 in his opening round of THE PLAYERS.
Back inside the ropes after an unspecified injury reportedly forced him to withdrew early last week in Charlotte, Crane landed 14 greens in regulation at TPC Sawgrass today and buried six birdies. The only par breaker of any notable length measured just 10'1" at the fourth hole. He sank everything from inside 12 feet.

Ben Crane has withdrawn from this week's Wells Fargo Championship due to an injury, according to David Scott on Twitter.
Crane has tweeted all day, but it's possible that he'll offer an explanation for his decision even though TOUR's bylaws don't require it. He missed the cut in New Orleans last week, his fifth in 10 starts. He's the 10th to withdraw from the tournament this week, nine of whom, including Crane, are exempt into next week's PLAYERS.

Ben Crane turned in a 4-under-par 33-35=68 in the final round of the Shell Houston Open, nabbing his first top 10 of 2013 at 14-under 274.
Crane's scorecard included four birdies, two bogeys and an eagle, which fell from 7'2" on the par-5 eighth. He came to the 18th playing alongside D.A. Points, who was the leader by two strokes. Crane had a birdie attempt from 56'2" to potentially join a playoff at 15-under but left it just short. It didn't matter. Points sunk a 13'5" par putt to erase all of those at 15-under anyway. He will not play in the upcoming Valero Texas Open.

Ben Crane posted a bogey-free 5-under-par 33-34=67 to take control of the Shell Houston Open lead at 10-under 206.
Crane was the first to break out of a logjam of players at 9-under, with six already in the clubhouse at that number. He circle five birdies in his navigation of Redstone GC, with a 30'3" effort on the par-3 seventh the highlight. Through 54 holes, he has just two bogeys on his ledger, both coming at the par-4 18th in the first two rounds. With no top-10 finishes and four missed cuts in seven starts prior to this week, he stands a reasonable chance to break out of his season-long slump in Sunday's final round. He may even nab his fifth PGA TOUR victory.

At 5-under-par 69-70=139, Ben Crane sits two strokes off the 36-hole clubhouse lead at the Shell Houston Open.
If you dismiss his endless line of viral videos, Crane has been largely quiet this season, cashing in only three of seven starts with one top 60 (T11, WM Phoenix Open). He's turned it around early at Redstone, however, where he's hit all but five greens in regulation en route to seven birdies. Today's set of three included conversions of 10'8" at the 12th hole and a 25-footer at 14. He's 0-for-2 in GIR at the par-4 18th, site of his only two bogeys of the week.

Ben Crane will tee it up at the Arnold Palmer Invitational having made just two cuts in six starts this season.
His tie for 11th at the Waste Management Phoenix Open is the bright spot in an otherwise bleak 2013. Crane's history at Bay Hill includes three top-25 finishes in six starts, failing to make the cut just one time. The biggest difference in 2013 is his flat stick. He's gone from 18th in strokes gained-putting in 2012 to 95th this season.

Last year's Waste Management Phoenix Open runner-up, Ben Crane, fired a 5-under-par 34-32=66 in the final round to finish the week at 16-under 268.
This was a big week for the veteran, having missed the cut in his first two starts of the year. The highlight of his day came when his approach from 157 yards on the par-4 11th came to rest at the bottom of the cup for an eagle. He will sit out the upcoming AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

Ben Crane has been added to the field of this week's Humana Challenge.
The PGA TOUR media's page on Twitter posted the news after the field was published on Friday afternoon, but we always wait until it's official. Crane will be making his 2013 debut this week; he's scheduled to go off the first tee on PGA West's Nicklaus Private Course at 10:10 a.m. PT on Thursday. He's 8-for-8 at the event with three top 15s, including a T8 last year. While he hasn't competed anywhere since finishing T14 at the CIMB Classic in the fall, he's stayed busy. His latest video was released last week; you can see it here.