Augusta, Ga.
As his approach shot on the 17th hole plunged into the bunker, Tiger Woods asked himself, but loud enough for everyone around to hear, what in the netherworld just happened?
Zachary Johnson happened.
It has occurred in 2007 that John-
son – a pork-chop-and-corn-fed
Iowan who spent six years playing in state opens, at county fairs and on the junior-varsity pro tours – felled the mighty Tiger.
If Johnson hadn’t been “patient and persevered” in his golf career and during his round on Sunday, Tiger Woods (as this is written) still would be amid the greenery of Augusta National competing for the Masters title in a playoff.
But Zach happens.
Johnson, who is the same age (31) as Tiger and now only 11 major championships behind him, didn’t remember later exactly what score he shot in the final round. It was a 69, three strokes better than Tiger, who finished two strokes off and tied for second.
Before, Tiger remembered Johnson as one of his virtually
unknown mates on the U.S. Ryder Cup team last year. Now, Tiger will remember him for another reason.
Were it not for his recent success on the PGA Tour, Johnson probably would be a ski bum in Colorado, he said earlier this year. Johnson and fellow pros Stewart Cink and Ben Crane and their wives spend time in Steamboat Springs each winter.
Johnson’s nickname is “Double Black Zach” because he daringly skis the most difficult trails.
He defeated the most difficult track ever at Augusta National, finishing at 1-over par 289 (tying the highest winning total in Masters history). Johnson survived a blowup at the end of Friday after he led for a while and endured a 76 in the third round and played past Woods, who led briefly in the final round, and four others who were on top at various junctures Sunday. Johnson bogeyed No. 1, and most people whispered that Zach would fade to black and drive his RV back to Cedar
Rapids.
But he recovered on the front side – after chipping in for a birdie at No. 8 – for a 35, then birdied 13, 14 and 16.
Here’s the oddest part. Tiger has won four Masters primarily by soaring to the par-5 greens in two. (He eagled No. 13 on Sunday.) Zach (now of the first-
name-only fame) didn’t try to go for any of the par 5s in two all four days.
“I can’t reach them,” he says.
Yet, he was 11-under on 2, 8, 13 and 15. Short, but smart – and the owner of a new, loud green blazer. (Maybe he’ll wear a green ski jacket in Steamboat Springs next December.)
The first time Johnson came to Augusta National was in 2001 as a practice-round guest of friend and fellow pro Vaughn Taylor, the local pro Zach whacked Sunday.
“I was in awe,” Johnson said of his first visit.
He next returned as a player in 2005, his second year away from tours with labels like Prairie, Hooters and Nationwide. (His first pro tournament was in Lincoln, Neb., and the $2,500 check he earned is on the wall at his parents’ house.) Zach promptly missed the cut at his first Masters with an 81 and a 71. Last year Johnson tied for 32nd, and there weren’t many people outside his immediate family picking him to win, or be in the chase, at Augusta National.
He is enthralled with the TV show “Lost,” and it was assumed that’s what he would be during the past week.
But in a magazine interview a couple of months ago, Johnson was asked what he would serve at the champions dinner if he won the Masters, which seemed like asking him what would be his first order of business if he landed on the moon.
“Something I grew up with, pork chops and sweet corn, and I’d hire my mom or my wife to do the preparation.” Hire?
The baby-faced Johnson, whose only other PGA victory also came in Georgia (at Atlanta), didn’t look at the scoreboard Sunday until the 17th hole (really), but the other contenders – Retief Goosen, Rory Sabbatini, Stuart Appleby and Justin Rose – were slipping.
Only one major challenger remained, the most frightening and the most worthy. When Tiger scorched the earth for his eagle at 13 to pull to within two, Johnson, two holes ahead, understood what the roar reverberating through the pines meant. “Tiger,” he said. Always Tiger.
But Johnson sank his birdie putt at 16 and, at the 72nd hole, clipped his third shot to within inches for a par.
“I didn’t think it was over until Tiger hit his second shot on 18,” he said. But Tiger already had realized it was over.
Zach was a happening fellow in the real world.
Staff writer Woody Paige can be reached at 303-954-1095 or wpaige@denverpost.com.
