Zach Johnson will not have been known to many outside the golfing fraternity before last week. Now, as 2007 US Masters champion, his profile has shot through the roof.

Although his win is hardly "upset of the year", he is the first man from outside the top 50 in the world rankings to win the Masters. I'll get on to my thoughts on the tournament in a moment, but I don't want to take anything away from Johnson. He knocked in some clutch putts down the stretch, especially on 16, then his chip to get up and down at 18 was exquisite - especially under stronger pressure than he would ever have felt. His green jacket was no gift, he won it.

Johnson's rise to the top has been a long grind. He turned pro nine years ago. He played most of his golf on the development circuits in the early days, trying to earn his rights to the lucrative PGA Tour. In 2003, he won the Nationwide Tour money list with then record earnings of just under half-a-million dollars, and in the process, gained his ticket to the big league. He certainly wasn't out of his depth, and won the BellSouth classic in his first year on tour. This can be so crucial for a rookie, as it secures their tour card for a couple of years which takes off the pressure immensely.

The fact that he has never had a top 10 finish in a major previously, makes Johnson's win all the more surprising.


Since then, Johnson's play has been steady, and he played his way onto last year's US Ryder cup team, and going into the Masters, was ranked 56 in the the world, so I suppose the term "journeyman pro" would be justified. The fact that he has never had a top 10 finish in a major previously, makes Johnson's win all the more surprising.

I think the US Masters committee got the course set up totally wrong this year. When Tiger ripped it to shreds in 18 under par 10 years ago, they didn't like seeing their golf course embarrassed' So they toughened it up - added length, moved bunkers (especially on the fairway to make driving harder), grew the rough, narrowed the fairways etc etc. And it worked. We've generally been seeing winning scores around the 5 to 10 under par score since. Which preserves the dignity of the course, but still keeps the enjoyment for the fans (and players) as good shots yield birdie chances, which is surely the way it should be.

This year, the greens were uber tough. Hard and quick. But whereas 10 years ago on a shorter course, when the greens were like that, you might be playing in with a 9-iron or wedge, and these top players can do anything with loft in their hands. But at hole No 1 for example, most players were hitting 3 irons into a heavily guarded, undulating green. Really the only way to get close was to land short, and get a lucky bounce. That's not golf in my eyes.

To hear all the top player's quotes after the tournament (they didn't complain, as the Masters committee don't take criticism well, and a complaint could well mean no invite at a later date) but the consensus words seemed to be grind, tough, and struggle. As this is the first time I have seen this (and the first time the winner has ever been over par) I hope the Masters committee take note, and my guess is we will see an easier course next year, although they won't publicly admit they made a mistake. The proof is in the pudding. Apart from Tiger (who's gonna be up there whatever) and Retief Goosen, the leaderboard was hardly teeming with superstars, which suggests luck was playing a bigger factor than it should be.

Brief word about Tiger to finish. I don't think his swing was quite in synk all week. You could see from his practice swings that he wasn't happy with his swing plane, and his distance control, which is normally his strongest point, was way off. But you have to take your hat off to the guy, he never gives up, and with his c-game, still managed 2nd place. He'll be kicking himself, seeing this a a major gone begging. Although we saw something very rare on the 15th on Sunday, a mental mistake.

I may be doing him an injustice, and maybe the scoreboards weren't updated near him, and he didn't know the situation, but that high cut he attempted around the trees and over the pond as his second to the par 5, finished in the drink. If, he laid up, and managed a pitch and putt birdie, he would have only needed one birdie on either 16, 17 or 18 to tie - very un-Tiger like.

Anyway, the first Major of the season done and dusted now. We have a little wait now until mid-June for the US Open at the fabled Oakmont Country Club.

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