Unheralded & uncanny

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Zach Johnson stood under a brilliant blue sky on a cool Easter Sunday, amazing golf glory mere moments from certainty, and softly whispered “I love you” in the ear of his infant son, resting warmly, peacefully in the arms of wife Kim.

All heaven was in his hands.

Calm and genial but hardly the iconic, charismatic bomber on which Augusta National Golf Club has built its fabled lore, Johnson on Sunday completed a 71st Masters tournament that was atypical in every way imaginable, right down to its unlikely champion.

“My dreams have been answered here,” said the 31-year-old Iowan and devout Christian.

“I had a lot of people give me some good words of wisdom over the last week. Being Easter Sunday, I felt like there was certainly another power that was walking with me and guiding me. I just feel very blessed and very honored.”

The first winner in 17 years not to come from the final pairing, Johnson shot a 3-under-par 69 Sunday in the first conditions this week that didn’t leave players praying for divine intervention. Still, they were among the most brutal 72 holes in Masters history.

At 1-over-par 289, Johnson tied the highest winning score ever at Augusta – good enough to win for the first time since 1956 – and earned $1.305 million with only his second career PGA Tour title.

“Today was a day of perseverance and patience,” said Johnson, the player of the year on the Hooters Tour in 2001 and Nationwide Tour in 2003 before finally rising to become a member of the U.S. Ryder Cup team in 2006.

“I think my mind frame was very clear the entire week, especially today, even on the back nine,” Johnson said. “I’m good enough to take home a green jacket, and that’s what I was trying to tell myself the entire time.”

Tied for second, two shots behind – where he was never expected to finish considering his position in the final pairing and history in major championships – was Tiger Woods, bidding for his fifth Masters title and third straight major victory.

Woods – who until Sunday had never before gained, and then lost, the lead in the final round of a major championship when trailing after 54 holes – couldn’t make birdie on the par-5 15th hole and missed a birdie putt from only eight feet on the par-3 16th hole.

Needing a birdie-birdie finish to tie Johnson, Woods finally showed the results of a week’s worth of disarray when his approach on No. 17 came up short in a bunker.

Woods, who failed for the first time to break par in at least one round in 11 starts in the Masters as a professional, briefly led early Sunday but finished with a 72 and 291 total.

Sharing second place with Woods were South Africans Rory Sabbatini, who took the lead with an extraordinary eagle putt on the par-5 eighth hole, and two-time U.S. Open winner Retief Goosen, who also held the lead outright Sunday.

After playing the first eight holes at 4-under, though, Goosen was unable to make another birdie and suffered a critical three-putt bogey on the par-3 12th hole during a 69.

And after his eagle on No. 8, Sabbatini went 1-over the rest of the way in his own 69.

Third-round leader Stuart Appleby, who fell to a tie for seventh with a double-bogey, and Augusta’s Vaughn Taylor, who tied for 10th with a 75, also held at least a share of the lead at some point Sunday.

It was Johnson, though, who found golf’s utopia on a day the outcome was never clear.

Two days after tossing away the lead with three consecutive bogeys to finish his round – including a three-putt from only four feet on No. 16 – Johnson never flinched in conditions atypical of Augusta and yet designed for his game and temperament.

A short miss on No. 17, from only four feet, dropped Johnson back to 1-over, but after missing the green short and right on No. 18, he deftly chipped the ball to tap-in range.

With friends and family, including 14-week old son Will, gathered behind the 18th green, Johnson then waited for the final two groups to finish and glory – at least in golf – he’d only before imagined.

“This is very surreal,” said Johnson, who fought back tears upon seeing his family at No. 18 and again during the green jacket ceremony.

“It was an emotional rollercoaster,” he said. “Seeing my boy and my family and all my friends, I can’t put it to words. It’s amazing. I feel very lucky and very blessed.”