FORT WORTH, Texas _ Kelly Kraft on Thursday almost shot his best round ever at Colonial Country Club.
Still, an opening-round 65 in the Dean & DeLuca Invitational was enough to put him in a three-way tie for the lead with Derek Fathauer and J.T. Poston.
In 2012, Kraft shot a 64 in the third round of the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, moving him in a tie for seventh place. It was his first PGA Tour event.
He shot an 80 on Sunday five years ago to finish in a tie for 57th.
"I made a bunch of bogeys on Sunday and finished about 50th or so," Kraft recalled. "Definitely learned a lot since then and had some good tournaments this year. Whenever I'm up there, I know I can hang."
This year, Kraft has a second-place finish at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, and he teamed with Kevin Tway to place third at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.
"Got here this morning it was nice and calm out," he said. "The day turned into being pretty windy and kind of blustery out there. I was a happy to get started off well in the wind, and got it to a couple under through however many, five holes, and kind of set the tone for the rest of the round."
Kraft and Irishman Graeme McDowell (66) were the only players Thursday to record bogey-free rounds.
"I mean, if you would told me at the start of the day I would shoot a 65 I would have taken it," said Kraft, who hit 8 of 14 fairways and putted just 26 times. "With no wind, 65 is a good score out of here. Couple more of those and it would be all right."
The Dallas resident and former SMU star said the even living in Texas doesn't make it any easier when battling 25- to 30-mph winds.
"When I finished second at Pebble we had a lot of wind the first day. I got through that OK," Kraft said. "So today just tried to keep my ball flighted down a little bit and compress it a little better and it worked out."
While this week is just his second PGA Tour event at Colonial, Kraft, who grew up in Denton, guessed that he has played the course about once a year since he was an SMU freshman.
"I like golf courses like this. You can't really overpower this golf course. It's a premium on the fairway," he said. "When you're in weird spots _ and you're in a lot of weird spots today with the wind, right?
"Crosswinds and shots over water, it's just not that comfortable of a round in 25-mile-an-hour winds. But I like the way when you step up on these holes it tells you where to hit it. You can pick a target, and with the winds you can play a little bit of the wind."
Doing well at Colonial is important, but Kraft is focusing hard on making next month's U.S. Open.
For the first time it's at Erin Hills in Erin, Wis., and Kraft won the 2011 U.S. Amateur at Erin Hills.
"I've never played in a U.S. Open before, but it would be a heck of a way for me to start my first one by qualifying for that one," he said.
Kraft said he's playing in a U.S Open sectional qualifier right after next week's Memorial Tournament in Ohio.
"Obviously I have a lot of good memories. Actually haven't been back to Erin Hills since I won the Amateur," he said. "There is definitely a little added pressure there trying to get back. Hopefully I can overcome that and play a good couple rounds and get there."
