'Spectacular day' vaults Crane into contention

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NORTON, Mass. -- Sunday was one of those days when everything just seemed to go right for Ben Crane. In more ways than one.

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Ben Crane's driving accuracy was considerably higher in Sunday's third round than in the opening two rounds.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

Crane's Saturday round

Birdies 9 Pars 8 Bogeys 1 Driving Accuracy 93 Driving Distance 276.5 Putts 27

• Crane's scorecard, click here

MORE ON CRANE

Video: Crane at home
More: Player profile page
Stats: Crane's 2008 results

Not only did the soft-spoken 32-year-old shoot 63 during the third round of the Deustche Bank Championship, he vaulted from a tie for 45th into contention for what could be his third PGA TOUR victory.

Crane made nine birdies and one bogey on Sunday as he moved to 13 under. For the second straight day he weilded a particularly hot putter, taking just 27, one more than Saturday and six less than in the first round. In addition, he only missed one fairway and one green.

"It's just fun to be able to start the ball on line and read it right, and then to be hitting the shots where you're looking," Crane said. "These are the days you look for when you play golf because it's just kind of coming out, just always the way you want it to, and just a spectacular day."

Even when he wasn't hitting it close, Crane was able to convert the birdie putts -- making four from over 20 feet and five from inside 15. In all, the nine birdies came from 3, 7, 35, 9, 24, 34, 23, 12 and 14 feet.

Crane finished with a flourish, too, responding to his lone bogey by making five birdies in his last six holes, The round was his best of the season by two strokes, and it was just what Crane was looking for to get himself back on track after missing the cut at The Barclays.

His performance has also earned Crane a spot among the 70 eligible players for the third event of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup, next week's BMW Championship. Crane did not get to participate in the Playoff bounty last year after being sidelined with an ailing back.

"I was really struggling coming into this week ... and I was just having a hard time sleeping after Friday night, after the first round, just because I wanted to play well again so bad," said Crane, who had entered the week with a sense of urgency, ranked No. 92 in the FedExCup standings.

"I read this scripture in Mark 11, where it says, 'Cast your burden on me and I will give you rest.' It just like resonated with me and gave me so much courage and strength today. "I just felt an incredible amount of peace and confidence as I played, and it was just a really fun day."

Indeed. Crane prospered as the wind picked up and TPC Boston was playing firmer than it had in the first two rounds when the scoring average was nearly two strokes under par.

"The thing my caddie and I, Brett, were able to talk about is that, you know what, you might hit some great shots that might not work out at all, you might catch the wrong gust here and there or whatever, so just make the stroke, do the best you can and let the results be the results," Crane said.

"Things just kind of kept going the right direction. I was able to capitalize on the putts and turn it into a great day in the midst of some tougher conditions."

Is he normally that patient?

"I pray and I work very hard in my life to be that patient, but I'm not as good as it as I was today," Crane said with a big smile.