Johnson wins first of many at BellSouth Classic

BY Bruce Young | US PGA Tour | 2004 BellSouth Classic | Wrap | 05 Apr 2004

He may not necessarily be a household name to most as yet, but there is every reason to believe that he will soon be such to golfing fans worldwide. Twenty seven year old Zach Johnson achieved what most golfing analysts believed was just a matter of time when he today took out the BellSouth Classic by a narrow and dwindling one shot margin.

Johnson learned his craft on the mini tours and Nationwide Tour from where he advanced in September of 2003 to become a full time PGA Tour member. A prolific winner of the Prairie Tour prior to his first unsuccessful season on the Nationwide Tour in 2000, Johnson returned to the Hooters Tour in 2001 where he would win three times and lead the money list there. Unable to access the Nationwide Tour in 2002, he returned to the Hooters Tour in that year and again had success, eventually finishing second on the money list that season.

At the PGA Tour qualifying school in 2002 he gained playing rights for the Nationwide Tour and produced the most successful year ever recorded on that tour with three wins and more money than anyone had earned previously. That performance earned him a “Battlefield Promotion” although his first event as a card holder at the John Deere Classic last year saw a missed cut. He returned to finish out the 2003 season on the Nationwide Tour completing that year with nine top threes in nineteen starts and, in addition to the three wins, he was runner up on four occasions.

The guy could clearly play but the PGA Tour is another step again and although he has played well in his first few events this year it was 13th place at the Honda Classic and his sixth placing at last week’s Players Championship that really gave a sign of things to come and perhaps a clearer indication of his real class.

He had played well at the BellSouth on a previous visit there as an invitee in 2002, eventually finishing 17th after a horror last hole where a four putt cost him a top ten finish.

He arrived at the BellSouth this week with much pointing to an even better performance in 2004. He was out of the blocks early on Thursday with a first round 69 but it was his strong finish on Friday, when he birdied four of his last six holes, that would sweep him to a lead he would not surrender from that point.

With a three shot lead heading into the final day, he got just the start he was looking for when he birdied the first, but three holes later he had given back that shot and one more, when he double bogeyed the fourth hole. The roller coaster ride, that would be round four, continued with four birdies in five holes from the sixth but from that point on things began to get a little shaky and what had appeared a stroll to victory turned into a struggle for survival. It is true that Johnson was never headed in the run home but with Mark Hensby, Scott Hend and his playing partner, Padraig Harrington all moving forward and he (Johnson) moving backward, what had been a four shot margin quickly became one as he headed to the par five last.

The last at Sugarloaf is one of the great par five finishing holes that is fraught with danger and yet offers opportunity for the brave. Even an attempt to play it conservatively is not a particularly easy task as the layup area is tight and, with a strong right to left breeze today, there was still danger lurking for someone looking to protect a lead.

Johnson took three wood from the tee signalling to all and sundry that just what his intentions were, namely to play the hole as a genuine three shotter. He did just that and when he pitched forty feet past the hole with his third there was still work to do in order to ensure a par and victory with a two putt. He was able to do just that however and in doing so, highlighted that despite a shaky stretch of holes from the 11th through the 15th, he was still able to get the job done.

There were other impressive performances by relative unknowns namely those of Australians Mark Hensby and Scott Hend. For Hensby, who eleven years ago was being chased by dogs as he delivered mail in Tamworth in country New South Wales in Australia, this finish continues an excellent run of form this season which had seen him finish 3rd at the Tucson Open 7th at Pebble Beach and 15th at the Bay Hill Invitational. Hensby is the second highest earner in history on the Nationwide Tour but in his only previous year on the PGA Tour in 2001, he had struggled with indifferent form. Now a much more complete player and coming off a good year on last year’s Nationwide Tour, Hensby seems more at ease on the PGA Tour.

This was a very impressive result for a man that is to some extent a mystery to Australian golf fans. An interview with him I conducted last week on www.iseekgolf.com may be heard by listening to www.iseekgolf.com/interviews/index.php and reveals a little more on his background. With his runner up cheque of $US480,000, Hensby now has close to $US1 million in earnings this season and with that knowledge and his immediate future secure, look for a win before too long.

Scott Hend is in his first season on the USPGA Tour having gained access to the big money via the USPGA Tour school last year. He has been successful on the Canadian Tour and the Australasian Tour’s version of the Nationwide Tour, the Von Nida Tour, where he won twice last year and headed the money list. But this was something completely different. Having missed his first five cuts as a rookie this year, Hend played the Nationwide Tour’s Chitimacha Louisiana Open last week where he also missed the cut so this performance was something quite special. Hend is one of the longer hitters out there and with this confidence boosting performance behind him look for him to make further progress quickly.

Harrington looked to be Johnson’s biggest threat when he got to within two through fifteen holes, but it was he who would make the first mistake over the closing holes allowing his playing partner Johnson the cushion he needed. It had been a rough and weird ride for Harrington over the front nine with two double bogeys, and eagle holed form the fairway, two bogeys and two birdies over the first eight holes. With a runner up placing at the Players Championship and now this fourth place here, he heads to Augusta as one of the favourites. He finished fifth at the Masters in 2002.

Peter Lonard finally recaptured some of the form that was so much part of his game towards the end of 2003 and his recovery from the untimely rib injury in late December now seems complete. His declared intention to focus more on scoring this week than technique has paid off and he heads to Augusta feeling much better about his game than he did arriving at the BellSouth.

Other performances of note include Phil Mickelson, who kept himself amongst the favourites for Augusta with a solid tenth place finish and Adam Scott who may well have been better off taking the week off after his Players Championship win than playing here as his missed cut was not exactly the best of lead ups to Augusta. The weekend off however may be a blessing in disguise however as he prepares for his third appearance at Augusta.

Of the other Australasians Grant Waite was 11th, his best finish since the Canadian Open in 2002, Steve Allan was 14th and Steve Elkington 35th.