CG Editor
At one point during Monday’s final round of The Open Championship, I literally jumped out of my seat. Even the best golf rarely inspires that kind of reaction, but this was far from an ordinary day. With the leaders halfway through the front nine, there were nine players within one shot of the lead, including some of the biggest names in golf — Jordan Spieth, Adam Scott, Louis Oosthuizen, Jason Day, Zach Johnson. A couple hours later, as Spieth’s birdie chip on 13 dropped into the cup for a split second before bouncing off the pin and rolling away, I jumped out of my chair, the excitement finally bubbling over.
Our social media feeds were flooded with talk about The Open Championship: Could Spieth pull off the comeback and win his third-straight major, and continue his quest for history? Would Jason Day finally break through to win a major? Could Louis Oosthuizen make it two-straight Opens at St. Andrews? Could Marc Leishman win the Open just three months after his wife was put into a medically induced coma, and given just a short time to live? (She’s since recovered.)
These were the stories that dominated the conversation online and around the office at Cascade Golfer in the final hours of the Open Championship, as the week’s other great stories — the three-day run of amateur Paul Dunne, who wasn’t even the best player on his mediocre college team in 2015, but teed off in the final group on Sunday; Dustin Johnson’s quest to put the demons of Chambers Bay behind him and finally win the major championship he deserves; Sergio Garcia’s attempt to overcome his perennial bridesmaid status — all receded to the wayside.
And then, after a brilliant finish and a playoff that was at least more exciting than the Cink-Watson debacle of 2010, Zach Johnson lifted the Claret Jug, and the reaction was … meh?
By all accounts, Johnson is a tremendous human being — his fellow players seem to love him (as evidenced by Spieth’s return to the 18th green to congratulate his friend following the playoff) and he seems strongly devoted to his faith and his family. Likewise, there are no questions about his game — Johnson has won 12 times on the PGA TOUR, including a Masters, a BMW Championship and now an Open Championship, has been a member of four Ryder Cup squads, and has ranked as high as seventh in the world. He’s unquestionably one of the best golfers in the world, a nice guy, and overwhelmingly humble, as his moving post-round interview on Monday made clear.
“I can’t. I’m at a loss for words,” Johnson said to ESPN’s Tom Rinaldi, clearly holding back tears. “I’m grateful, I’m humbled, I’m thankful. I’m honored, this is the birthplace of the game, and that jug means so much in sports, specifically this tournament and golf. It hasn’t set in yet … I felt great, I was patient, I had some scripture going in my head and I thank the Lord, I thank my friends, I thank my family. I’m just in awe right now.”
So, why is it then that Johnson is just so … forgettable?
When we asked our readers this week to pick a winner of The Open Championship, not a single person chose Zach Johnson. On Saturday night, following the conclusion of the second round, when we asked what storylines readers were most rooting for in the final 36 holes, nearly everyone picked Spieth’s Slam or DJ’s redemption, with a couple of Oostys and Days mixed in; again, no mention of Zach Johnson. With just a few holes to go on Monday and the field whittled down to five final contenders, a straw poll of the golf fans gathered around the television set in the back room at CG HQ revealed a rooting interest for the following players, in order of preference: Spieth, Day, Oosthuizen, Leishman. Nobody even mentioned Johnson, despite the fact that he was leading at the time. The groan when Oosty missed his putt on 18 to extend the playoff was audible; Johnson had won, and that was … fine.
So exactly what it is that makes Johnson so easy to overlook? Certainly, a part of it is his humility — he doesn’t do a lot of endorsements, doesn’t seek out interviews (but also doesn’t turn them down, always appearing gracious when on camera). He also doesn’t have the kind of game that blows you away when you watch on TV — his swing isn’t as sweet as Oosty’s, he doesn’t putt or chip as well as Spieth, and he doesn’t hit long, booming drives like Bubba or DJ (indeed, his 280.1-yard average ranks just 164th on Tour, and is probably lower than that of some of our readers).
And while he’s won plenty in his career, he’s never had an extended period of dominance that led anyone to anoint him as the next big thing — he’s never been the best player in his era, or the most exciting, or the most charismatic. He’s preferred to fly under the radar, make a living playing professional golf, and spend as much time as he can back home in Georgia with his loving family. That sure sounds like a winner to me.
So, we applaud for Zach Johnson, then continue to look the other way. It’s just what he’d want us to do.
