Zach Johnson is
an American golfer, and winner of the 2007 Masters
Tournament.
Johnson was born in Iowa City, Iowa. He was raised
in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and developed his golf skills
at Elmcrest Country Club, and also as a member of
the now defunct Catholic Regis High School golf
team, (merged in 1998 with LaSalle high school to
form Xavier High School) both in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
He played #2 on his high school team and led them to
an Iowa 3A State Golf Championship in 1992. Johnson
played #2 on his Drake University golf team in Des
Moines, Iowa and led the team to three NCAA regional
meets and two Missouri Valley championships. Johnson
received early inspiration when his uncle, Tom
Harris, qualified for the 1975 NAIA National Golf
Tournament. Johnson has admitted to not being the
best player on his high school or college team but
was quoted in his Masters speech saying "I just kept
getting better every year."
Johnson turned professional in 1998 on the
developmental tour circuit, including Prairie Golf
Tour and the NGA Hooters Tour, where he won the
final three regular-season events in 2001. In 2003,
he topped the money list on the Nationwide Tour with
then record earnings of $494,882. He won his first
PGA Tour event at the 2004 BellSouth Classic.
Johnson qualified for the 2006 U.S. Ryder Cup team,
finishing 9th on the U.S. Points List.
On April 8, 2007, Johnson won the Masters Tournament
in Augusta, Georgia by a margin of 2 strokes over
runners up Tiger Woods, Retief Goosen, and Rory
Sabbatini. It was his first major title. His score
of 289 (+1) tied Sam Snead (1954) and Jack Burke Jr.
(1956) for the highest winning score ever recorded
for this tournament. His victory took him from No.56
to No.15 in the Official World Golf Ranking; he was
the first person outside the top 50 in the Official
World Golf Ranking to win the Masters Tournament in
the history of the ranking. After winning the
Tournament, he mentioned his Christian faith and
thanked God, saying "This being Easter, I cannot
help but believe my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ
was walking with me. I owe this to him."
Johnson and his wife Kim reside in Orlando, Florida,
and are members of First Baptist Church in Orlando.
They have one son, Will. On September 4, 2007, Zach
Johnson led the singing of "Take Me Out To The
Ballgame" during the 7th Inning Stretch of the
Chicago Cubs game at Wrigley Field.
