Johnson paves the way for Masters underdogs

Unlike other sports, golf does not celebrate its underdogs. With apologies to Carl Spackler, Cinderella stories are often scorned rather than praised. We root for the champions as opposed to those who seemingly have no business beating them.

This seems to be especially true in major championships. It is if we expect the champions to do a little something before they win a big tournament, such as win a bunch of smaller ones. Or have a few close calls in majors. Maybe even suffer some heartbreak before hoisting the major hardware.

Flying in the face of all that, we have Zach Johnson, absolutely nobody’s pick to win the storied tournament at Augusta National Golf Club last April, as the Masters champion.

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Johnson, 32, is a great guy with an ever-improving game who slowly made the journey from college golfer at Drake to the lowest of mini-tours. He needed the financial backing of several sponsors just to get his career off the ground. He eventually made it to the Nationwide Tour and then the PGA Tour and has won at every stop.

But the Masters?

Johnson had only one PGA Tour victory before his Masters triumph, where he held off, among others, Tiger Woods. And that victory came three years prior.

Although Johnson made the 2006 U.S. Ryder Cup team, he had missed the cut in his previous three major championships. His best finish in a major had been a tie for 17th. And he was not ranked among the top 50 players in the world.

So, yes, to put it nicely, his victory was a major shock.

“I just feel very, very blessed,” said Johnson, a native of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, who now lives in Orlando. “I’m beside myself.”

Despite the inherent advantage that seasoned players have in majors, Johnson actually joined a long list of surprise major winners. In recent years, there was Ben Curtis at the British Open and Shaun Micheel at the PGA Championship in 2003. Neither player had won a PGA Tour event before those major victories. Todd Hamilton, a 38-year-old rookie, defeated Ernie Els in a playoff at the 2004 British Open, his second victory of the year. But he has rarely contended since. Orville Moody’s only tour victory was the 1969 U.S. Open. Jack Fleck defeated Ben Hogan in an 18-hole playoff to capture the 1955 U.S. Open. Sam Parks Jr. won the 1935 U.S. Open at Oakmont, his only tour victory.

Masters hole-by-hole preview

But the Masters is the major that produces the surprise champion most infrequently. And it got us thinking: just how surprising was Johnson’s victory? And, how likely is such a surprise winner to emerge again at Augusta National?

Well, if history is any indication, it might be awhile before we see a winner with so little pedigree. (Johnson did go on to win the AT&T Classic after the Masters and made the U.S. Presidents Cup team.) Johnson became only the seventh Masters champion who had two victories or fewer before they won the tournament.

Johnson’s name will forever be etched in history, and he put it there by breaking away from a star-studded pack. He found himself in a four-way tie with Stuart Appleby, Retief Goosen and Rory Sabbatini before birdies at the 13th, 14th and 16th holes gave him the lead.

“I think I am mentally tough,” Johnson said. “I don’t hit it very far. I can’t overpower a golf course.

“But I think I’m a decent putter, and at Augusta National, putting is at a premium.”

Masters Notebook

• The fact that Zach Johnson took down Tiger Woods, who finished tied for second, two strokes back, will likely be remembered forever. Woods had won the previous two majors and found himself in the final pairing with Appleby — a position from which he had won all of his previous 12 majors. He also grabbed the lead early in the final round, a position from which he had never failed to win a major. But it was Johnson who prevailed. “They say a giant has to fall at some point, and maybe that’s the case,” Johnson said.

• The Masters will air on ESPN for the first time in 2008. The first two rounds were awarded to the cable network after a 25-year run on USA Network. CBS will pick up weekend coverage.

• They are not big changes, but the Masters did make some more alterations to Augusta National, specifically at hole Nos. 1, 7, 9 and 11. At the first hole, 10 yards were added to the front of the tee, giving flexibility for a shorter hole in the case of poor weather. The seventh green was altered to allow for more pin positions; changes were also made to the ninth green to flatten it in places; and several trees were removed from the right of the 11th fairway to allow for better spectator viewing.

• Woods finished in a second-place tie at 291 in 2007, shooting rounds of 73-74-72-72. It marked the first time in 11 Masters as a professional that he failed to break par in any round. He had previously broken par 26 times; in three Masters, he broke par in all four rounds.

• No Masters champion has ever come from farther back in the final round than a tie for 25th, where Bernhard Langer sat in 1985. Last year, Johnson began the final round in a tie for fourth place, two strokes behind Stuart Appleby.

• No player broke 70 during the third round in 2007, a first at the tournament since 1966. And Johnson’s winning score of 289 was the first over par since Jack Burke Jr. shot 289 in 1956.

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