Zach Johnson
Johnson in April 2007 at Harbour Town Golf Links
Personal information
Full nameZachary Harris Johnson
Born (1976-02-24) February 24, 1976
Iowa City, Iowa, U.S,
Height5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight160 lb (73 kg; 11 st)
Sporting nationality United States
ResidenceSt. Simons Island, Georgia, U.S.
Spouse
Kim Barclay
​
(m. 2003)​
Children3
Career
CollegeDrake University
Turned professional1998
Current tour(s)PGA Tour
Former tour(s)Nationwide Tour
Hooters Tour
Professional wins26
Highest ranking6 (January 12, 2014)[1]
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour12
European Tour2
Korn Ferry Tour2
Other12
Best results in major championships
(wins: 2)
Masters TournamentWon: 2007
PGA ChampionshipT3: 2010
U.S. OpenT8: 2016, 2020
The Open ChampionshipWon: 2015
Achievements and awards
Nationwide Tour
money list winner		2003
Nationwide Tour
Player of the Year		2003
Payne Stewart Award2020

Zachary Harris Johnson (born February 24, 1976) is an American professional golfer who has 12 victories on the PGA Tour, including two major championships, the 2007 Masters and the 2015 Open Championship. At the 2023 Ryder Cup, Johnson captained the U.S. squad against Europe in Rome, Italy.[2] The U.S. Team lost 16.5–11.5 and Reuters wrote that American fans were "fuming" at the manner of defeat and pointed out that Johnson was being criticized by golf pundits and roasted on social media as the worst U.S. Ryder Cup captain ever.[3]

Early life

The son of a chiropractor, Johnson was born in Iowa City, Iowa and raised in Cedar Rapids,[4] the eldest of Dave and Julie Johnson's three children. Playing many sports as a youth (baseball, basketball, football, and soccer), Johnson took up golf at age 10 and developed his skills at Elmcrest Country Club. He played number-two on the Regis High School golf team and led them to an Iowa 3A state championship in 1992, his sophomore year.[5]

Following graduation from high school in 1994, Johnson enrolled at Drake University in Des Moines. As the number-two player on the Drake golf team, he led the Bulldogs to three NCAA regional meets and two Missouri Valley championships. Johnson's uncle, Tom Harris, qualified for the 1975 NAIA national tournament.

Professional career

Johnson turned professional in 1998 and played on the developmental tour circuit, including the now-defunct Prairie Golf Tour, Buy.com Tour (now Korn Ferry Tour), and 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, earning an automatic promotion to the PGA Tour. Johnson won his first PGA Tour event in 2004 at the BellSouth Classic outside of Atlanta, one stroke ahead of runner-up Mark Hensby. In 2006, Johnson recorded a number of impressive results, with two runner-ups and a third at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship. As a result, he qualified for the U.S. Ryder Cup team for the first time in 2006, finishing ninth on the U.S. points list.

In April 2007, Johnson won his first major title at the Masters Tournament in Augusta, Georgia, two strokes ahead of runners-up Tiger Woods, Retief Goosen, and Rory Sabbatini.[6] His score of 289 (+1) tied Sam Snead (1954) and Jack Burke Jr. (1956) for the highest winning score at the Masters. His victory took Johnson from #56 to #15 in the world rankings; he was the first outside the top 50 in the world rankings to win the Masters in the history of the rankings (introduced 1986). After winning, 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."[7] Six weeks after winning the Masters, Johnson won for the third time on tour at the AT&T Classic in a playoff over Ryuji Imada. Following the win, Johnson moved to 13th in the world rankings. His next PGA Tour victory, and first outside the state of Georgia, came at the Valero Texas Open in October 2008, where he finished with weekend rounds of 62 and 64 to finish two strokes ahead of a chasing pack of players.

Johnson won the Sony Open in Hawaii in January 2009 for his fifth victory on the PGA Tour, and successfully defended his title at the Valero Texas Open in May with a playoff victory over James Driscoll.[8] With a third-round 60, Johnson became the first player to shoot 60 twice on the PGA Tour, having done so previously at the 2007 Tour Championship. The win was Johnson's sixth on tour. Other highlights in 2009 include a tie for 2nd place at the John Deere Classic and a solo 3rd-place finish at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. He finished the season ranked a career best fourth on the money list. In 2010, Johnson started the season solidly on the PGA Tour, making ten of his first eleven cuts without any significant results. Then in June 2010, he won the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, his seventh PGA Tour victory. Johnson only missed two cuts all year en route to qualifying for the season ending Tour Championship and the 2010 U.S. Ryder Cup team, his second appearance in the event.[9]

In 2012, Johnson won the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial for the second time in his career. He made a five-foot (1.5 m) putt on the last hole for an apparent three-shot victory, but a ruling on the final hole resulted in a two-stroke penalty. It did not affect the outcome, with the only difference being Johnson signing for a double-bogey instead of a par on the final hole, and winning by a single stroke over Jason Dufner.[10] He jumped to 3rd in the FedEx Cup standings and returned to the world top 20 with this victory. Johnson moved to second in the FedEx Cup standings in 2012 with a playoff win on July 15 at the John Deere Classic.[11] Johnson defeated Troy Matteson, who started the day up four shots on Johnson and had led the tournament since the first round,[12] with a birdie on the second hole of their playoff. Johnson also started the day behind three-time defending champion Steve Stricker, who was three shots behind Matteson. It was Johnson's second win on the year after winning at Colonial Country Club.[13] Mike Bender, Johnson's swing coach, also caddied for the week while usual caddie Damon Green played in the U.S. Senior Open.[14]

At the 2012 Open Championship, played at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club in Lancashire, England, Johnson finished at even par for the tournament (280), tied for ninth, seven shots behind winner Ernie Els.[15]

In 2013, Johnson, in defense of his John Deere Classic title, lost in a three-man sudden-death playoff to Jordan Spieth at the fifth extra hole, after he bogeyed the final hole of regulation play with a one shot lead. In the playoff, all three players, Johnson, Spieth and David Hearn, had chances to win with Johnson's coming at the second extra hole, but he failed to convert the putt. Spieth won with par at the fifth extra hole after Johnson hit his second shot into the water and could only make bogey. The following week, Johnson opened up the 2013 Open Championship at Muirfield, with a five-under-par round of 66 to hold the lead by one stroke over Rafa Cabrera-Bello and Mark O'Meara. He finished the tournament in a tie for 6th place. He continued solid play for the rest of the summer, finishing in the top-10 in six of the next seven tournaments he would enter, including an 8th-place finish at the PGA Championship, making it back to back top-10 finishes at major events. In September, Johnson captured the BMW Championship for his tenth career victory and first FedEx Cup victory of his career.

In December 2013, Johnson attained a playoff victory over Tiger Woods at the Northwestern Mutual World Challenge.[16] This win moved him into the top ten of the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time in his career. Johnson captured his 11th career victory in January 2014 with a win at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions.[17] With the win, Johnson moved up to a career high 7th in the Official World Golf Ranking.

Johnson with Graeme McDowell at the 2014 Players Championship. Johnson finished tied for 26th.

At the 2014 U.S. Open, Johnson had a hole in one on the 172 yard par-3 9th hole. It was the 44th hole in one in U.S. Open history, and just the second at Pinehurst No. 2.[18]

On July 20, 2015, Johnson beat Louis Oosthuizen and Marc Leishman in a four-hole playoff to win the Open Championship at St Andrews for his 12th PGA Tour win and second major.[19] He became only the sixth golfer to win majors at Augusta and St. Andrews, the others being Sam Snead, Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo, Seve Ballesteros, and Woods.[20]

Johnson is one of only two players (with Phil Mickelson) to have twice shot a round of 60 on the PGA Tour,[21] though Jim Furyk shot rounds of 58 and 59.

In July 2019, Johnson fell out of the Official World Golf Ranking top 100 players for the first time since April 2004, when his first tour victory at the 2004 BellSouth Classic vaulted him from 126th in the world to 49th. From 2004 to 2018, Johnson made at least $1.6 million every season, and he grabbed wins in all but one season between 2007 and 2015. The only year he didn't, 2011, Johnson still managed to finish T-6 or better in four events, and he also finished solo second at the Hero World Challenge.[22]

In August 2019, Johnson failed to make the FedEx Cup Playoffs for the first time since the playoffs were introduced in 2007. "Extreme disappointment. That's about all I've got at this point is just extreme disappointment," Johnson said. "I mean, I didn't play as much as I typically do in the past, probably 3-5 tournaments less, but that's just because of the season of life that I'm in. So there's more opportunity when you play more, but that has nothing to do with my play." Once a fixture near the top of the rankings, Johnson slipped to 126th in the world. He remains fully exempt for the 2019–20 PGA Tour season in the final part of a five-year exemption for winning the 2015 Open Championship, an insurance that the 43-year-old admitted allowed him to play with added "freedom" during a lean year.[23]

In July 2021, Johnson was forced to withdraw from 2021 Open Championship after testing positive for COVID-19, ending his streak at participating in 69 consecutive majors.[24]

Personal life

Johnson and his wife, the former Kim Barclay, were members of First Baptist Church in Orlando.[25]

Johnson was raised a Catholic, but joined his wife's church prior to their marriage in 2003. They have two sons, Will and Wyatt, and one daughter, Abby Jane. They lived in Lake Mary, Florida and now reside in St. Simons, Georgia.[26]

Johnson won the Payne Stewart Award in 2020.[27]

Foundation

The Zach Johnson Foundation is dedicated to helping children and their families in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. One program created by Johnson and his wife Kim helped to raise $700,000 for community agencies serving children in need. He has stated: "This Foundation will fulfill a dream of mine and Kim's to give back to Cedar Rapids in a long-lasting, meaningful way."[28]

Professional wins (26)

PGA Tour wins (12)

Legend
Major championships (2)
FedEx Cup playoff events (1)
Other PGA Tour (9)
No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin of
victory		Runner(s)-up
1 Apr 4, 2004 BellSouth Classic 69-66-68-72=275 −13 1 stroke Australia Mark Hensby
2 Apr 8, 2007 Masters Tournament 71-73-76-69=289 +1 2 strokes South Africa Retief Goosen, South Africa Rory Sabbatini,
United States Tiger Woods
3 May 20, 2007 AT&T Classic (2) 71-66-69-67=273 −15 Playoff Japan Ryuji Imada
4 Oct 12, 2008 Valero Texas Open 69-66-62-64=261 −19 2 strokes South Korea Charlie Wi, New Zealand Tim Wilkinson,
United States Mark Wilson
5 Jan 18, 2009 Sony Open in Hawaii 69-65-66-65=265 −15 2 strokes Australia Adam Scott, United States David Toms
6 May 17, 2009 Valero Texas Open (2) 68-67-60-70=265 −15 Playoff United States James Driscoll
7 May 30, 2010 Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial 65-66-64-64=259 −21 3 strokes England Brian Davis
8 May 27, 2012 Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial (2) 64-67-65-72=268 −12 1 stroke United States Jason Dufner
9 Jul 15, 2012 John Deere Classic 68-65-66-65=264 −20 Playoff United States Troy Matteson
10 Sep 16, 2013 BMW Championship 64-69-70-65=268 −16 2 strokes United States Nick Watney
11 Jan 6, 2014 Hyundai Tournament of Champions 67-66-74-66=273 −19 1 stroke United States Jordan Spieth
12 Jul 20, 2015 The Open Championship 66-71-70-66=273 −15 Playoff Australia Marc Leishman, South Africa Louis Oosthuizen

PGA Tour playoff record (4–1)

No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result
1 2007 AT&T Classic Japan Ryuji Imada Won with birdie on first extra hole
2 2009 Valero Texas Open United States James Driscoll Won with birdie on first extra hole
3 2012 John Deere Classic United States Troy Matteson Won with birdie on second extra hole
4 2013 John Deere Classic Canada David Hearn, United States Jordan Spieth Spieth won with par on fifth extra hole
5 2015 The Open Championship Australia Marc Leishman, South Africa Louis Oosthuizen Won four-hole aggregate playoff;
Johnson: −1 (3-3-5-4=15),
Oosthuizen: E (3-4-5-4=16),
Leishman: +2 (5-4-5-4=18)

Nationwide Tour wins (2)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin of
victory		Runner-up
1 Apr 27, 2003 Rheem Classic 65-70-71-66=272 −8 Playoff United States Steve Haskins
2 Sep 7, 2003 Envirocare Utah Classic 68-69-65-65=267 −21 1 stroke United States Bobby Gage

Nationwide Tour playoff record (1–1)

No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
1 2003 Rheem Classic United States Steve Haskins Won with birdie on first extra hole
2 2003 Henrico County Open Australia Mark Hensby Lost to birdie on first extra hole

NGA Hooters Tour wins (4)

  • 2001 3 events
  • 2002 1 event

Prairie Golf Tour wins (3)

  • 1998 1 event
  • 1999 2 events

Other wins (5)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin of
victory		Runner(s)-up
1 Jun 10, 2001 Greater Cedar Rapids Open 66-71-71=208 −8 2 strokes United States Jeff Schmid
2 Jul 15, 2001 Iowa Open 64-65-67=196 −20 3 strokes United States Brian Smock
3 Jul 14, 2002 Iowa Open (2) 65-63-65=193 −23 4 strokes United States George McNeill
4 Jun 21, 2011 CVS Caremark Charity Classic
(with United States Matt Kuchar)		 58-60=118 −24 2 strokes United States Davis Love III and United States Morgan Pressel
5 Dec 8, 2013 Northwestern Mutual World Challenge 67-68-72-68=275 −13 Playoff United States Tiger Woods

Other playoff record (1–0)

No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
1 2013 Northwestern Mutual World Challenge United States Tiger Woods Won with par on first extra hole

Major championships

Wins (2)

YearChampionship54 holesWinning scoreMarginRunners-up
2007Masters Tournament2 shot deficit+1 (71-73-76-69=289)2 strokesSouth Africa Retief Goosen, South Africa Rory Sabbatini,
United States Tiger Woods
2015The Open Championship3 shot deficit−15 (66-70-71-66=273)Playoff1Australia Marc Leishman, South Africa Louis Oosthuizen

1Defeated Leishman and Oosthuizen in a four-hole aggregate playoff: Johnson (3-3-5-4=15), Oosthuizen (3-4-5-4=16), Leishman (5-4-5-4=18)

Results timeline

Results not in chronological order in 2020.

Tournament200420052006200720082009
Masters Tournament CUT T32 1 T20 CUT
U.S. Open T48 CUT CUT T45 CUT CUT
The Open Championship CUT CUT CUT T20 T51 T47
PGA Championship T37 T17 CUT CUT CUT T10
Tournament201020112012201320142015201620172018
Masters Tournament 42 CUT T32 T35 CUT T9 CUT CUT T36
U.S. Open T77 T30 T41 CUT T40 T72 T8 T27 T12
The Open Championship T76 T16 T9 T6 T47 1 T12 T14 T17
PGA Championship T3 T59 70 T8 T69 CUT T33 T48 T19
Tournament 20192020202120222023
Masters Tournament T58 T51 CUT CUT T34
PGA Championship T54 CUT CUT CUT T58
U.S. Open T58 T8 CUT
The Open Championship CUT NT CUT T55
  Win
  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" = tied
NT = No tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic

Summary

TournamentWins2nd3rdTop-5Top-10Top-25EventsCuts made
Masters Tournament1001231911
PGA Championship0011352013
U.S. Open0000231812
The Open Championship1001381813
Totals201310197549
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 10 (2017 U.S. Open – 2019 U.S. Open)
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (2013 Open Championship – 2013 PGA)

Results in The Players Championship

Tournament 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
The Players Championship T8 T58 T16 CUT T32
Tournament 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
The Players Championship T22 T12 T2 T19 T26 T13 T54 T48 T75 CUT
Tournament 202020212022
The Players Championship C T41 CUT
  Top 10

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
C = Canceled after the first round due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Results in World Golf Championships

Results not in chronological order prior to 2015.

Tournament200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018
Championship 10 T43 T45 T9 T9 T53 T37 T24 T17 T47 T16 T49 T47 T58
Match Play R64 3 R64 R64 R32 R32 R64 R64 R64 R64 T17 R16 R16 T36
Invitational T22 T9 T36 T11 T16 T15 T33 T6 T40 T4 T23 T33 T10 2 T17
Champions
  Top 10
  Did not play

QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = tied
Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.

PGA Tour career summary

SeasonTournaments
played		Cuts
made		Wins
(majors)		2nd3rdTop 10sBest
finish		Earnings
($)		Money
list rank[29]		Scoring ave
(adjusted)[30]
2001100000---71.46
2002210000T1757,000-71.16
2003100000---72.69
20043024102512,417,6851970.18
200530210115T21,796,4413970.38
200627210214T22,452,2502470.42
200723182 (1)10513,922,338869.91
20082519100311,615,1235370.60
20092622211914,714,813469.60
20102523101312,916,9931970.53
201123190014T31,880,4064469.97
20122524220614,504,244669.82
20132420111814,044,509970.10
20142624111513,353,4171970.16
201525201 (1)011014,801,487869.73
20162421000551,718,7035870.36
20172317010422,362,9684070.39
20182523000251,957,6355969.91
201919130001T7603,16015570.64
202018120001T7777,72711370.39
Career*42234212 (2)101080145,896,89913[31]–

* As of the 2020 season.

U.S. national team appearances

Professional

Ryder Cup points record
200620082010201220142016Total
1.5–230.529

See also

Footnotes

    References

    1. ↑ "Week 02 2014 Ending 12 Jan 2014" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved December 20, 2018.
    2. ↑ "Ryder Cup: Zach Johnson named US captain to face Europe in Italy in 2023". BBC News. February 28, 2022. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
    3. ↑ "U.S. captain Johnson returns home to criticism after Ryder Cup flop". Reuters. October 2, 2023. Retrieved October 16, 2023.
    4. ↑ Sobel, Jason (April 10, 2007). "Who is Zach Johnson?". ESPN. Retrieved September 10, 2012.
    5. ↑ "Zach Johnson Story". Archived from the original on July 10, 2016. Retrieved July 21, 2015.
    6. ↑ Slater, Matt (April 9, 2007). "Masters 2007". BBC Sport. Retrieved April 11, 2007.
    7. ↑ Baggs, Mercer (April 8, 2007). "Zach's Win More than Self Serving". Golf Channel. Retrieved September 10, 2012.
    8. ↑ "Johnson defends Texas Open crown". BBC Sport. May 17, 2010. Retrieved September 10, 2012.
    9. ↑ "Zach Johnson beats Brian Davis to Colonial title". BBC Sport. May 31, 2010. Retrieved September 10, 2012.
    10. ↑ "Zach Johnson passes Jason Dufner to win at Colonial". USA Today. Associated Press. May 27, 2012. Retrieved September 10, 2012.
    11. ↑ "Zach Johnson tops Troy Matteson in playoff to win John Deere". The Times of India. July 16, 2012. Retrieved September 10, 2012.
    12. ↑ "Johnson beats Matteson in playoff to win John Deere". Yahoo! Sports. Reuters. July 15, 2012. Retrieved September 10, 2012.
    13. ↑ "Zach Johnson tops Troy Matteson in playoff to win John Deere Classic". Golf.com. Associated Press. July 15, 2012. Retrieved September 10, 2012.
    14. ↑ Denney, Bob (July 2012). "Teacher and student combine for championship team". PGA of America. Retrieved September 10, 2012.
    15. ↑ "Leaderboard: The 2012 Open Championship". Yahoo! Sports. July 22, 2012. Retrieved September 10, 2012.
    16. ↑ "Tiger Woods loses to Zach Johnson in World Challenge". BBC Sport. December 9, 2013. Retrieved December 11, 2013.
    17. ↑ "Zach Johnson wins at Kapalua". ESPN. Associated Press. January 7, 2014. Retrieved January 30, 2014.
    18. ↑ Porath, Brendan (June 15, 2014). "Zach Johnson makes hole-in-one at Pinehurst, does a lap with U.S. Open crowd". SB Nation. Retrieved June 15, 2014.
    19. ↑ Borden, Sam (July 20, 2015). "Jordan Spieth's Grand Slam Bid Ends". The New York Times. Retrieved July 20, 2015.
    20. ↑ "Key Stats from Johnson's win at St. Andrews". Golf Channel. Retrieved July 20, 2015.
    21. ↑ "Rounds of 60 shot on the PGA Tour". PGA Tour. Retrieved February 10, 2013.
    22. ↑ Powers, Christopher (July 1, 2019). "A 15-year streak comes to an end for Zach Johnson, highlighting his remarkable consistency". Golf World. Retrieved July 2, 2019.
    23. ↑ Gray, Will (August 4, 2019). "Z. Johnson misses playoffs for first time; 'Didn't have it this week, or this year'". Golf Channel. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
    24. ↑ "Zach Johnson tests positive, list of British Open WDs grows". Yahoo Sports. Associated Press. July 12, 2021. Retrieved July 13, 2021.
    25. ↑ Roach, Erin (April 10, 2007). "Masters winner buoyed by faith, marriage". Baptist Press. Archived from the original on October 5, 2012. Retrieved September 10, 2012.
    26. ↑ Robbins, Josh (January 21, 2009). "Johnson thrives following move". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved September 10, 2012.
    27. ↑ "Zach Johnson honored with Payne Stewart Award for character, charity, sportsmanship". ESPN. Associated Press. August 12, 2020.
    28. ↑ "Zach Johnson Foundation". Zach Johnson official website. Archived from the original on December 15, 2013. Retrieved December 10, 2013.
    29. ↑ "Official Money". PGA Tour. Retrieved October 2, 2020.
    30. ↑ "Scoring Average". PGA Tour. Retrieved October 2, 2020.
    31. ↑ "Career Money Leaders". PGA Tour. Retrieved October 2, 2020.
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