AJC > Sports > Columnists > Archives > 2007 > May > 17 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USJohnson adjusts to altered course
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
In fairness to Zach Johnson, it takes something to become a big story in Sugarloaf. The bar has been set too high.
A porn star runs a brothel off the ninth fairway. (Lisa Ann Taylor. She got all of that one.)
A quarterback keeps a few of his clubhouse-broken pit bulls in the yard. (Do marshals raise “Hush, y’all” signs before a dogfight?)
But Zach Johnson — Masters champion?
Pffttt.
So maybe it wasn’t a surprise Thursday when Johnson — less than six weeks removed from dumping Tiger Woods, being splashed on magazine covers and visiting Oprah — finished his opening round of the AT&T Classic at 1 under par to polite applause from a modest gallery.
This tournament, moved from its prior on-deck spot before the Masters, lost a bit of its zing. Only one of the world’s top 10 players is here. As it turns out, Henrik Stenson can’t even draw Swedes to Duluth.
Zach Johnson is the second-highest ranked player here (15th). The last time he shot a round of golf in the state, he won the globe’s biggest tournament in Augusta. It was a life-changing moment for a relative obscurity from Cedar Rapids, Iowa. It led to talk shows, name recognition and “job security” (his wife’s words).
But his following for Thursday’s first round (maybe a few dozen fans) remained a distant second to the freak show that is John Daly (a couple of hundred).
Just as well. This celebrity stuff can wear a guy.
“Honestly, the biggest change is that it just hasn’t stopped,” Johnson said. “It’s still kind of overwhelming, and very surreal. About the only time I’m really comfortable is either when I’m with my family, and only my family, or inside the ropes. That’s my comfort zone. At the same time, whatever issues or problems or decisions or requests we’ve had have been good ones, and we’ll take anything on. It’s been awesome.”
Those first days after winning the Masters by two strokes were a talk show blur. Letterman. Regis and Kelly. Oprah. All of the ESPNs. (Alas, he couldn’t save “Cold Pizza.”)
Barack Obama introduced himself to Johnson and said, “I’m a big fan.”
The Iowa House and Senate honored him. The governor phoned him. The Des Moines Register still offers a poster to download on its Web site. You would have thought Joe Jackson just walked out of a cornfield.
“That first week, we just kept looking at each other, saying, ‘What just happened?’?” said Johnson’s wife, Kim, as she lugged a baby carrier from the car. (Their 4-month-old son, Will, also made the trip.)
“Even now, it’s hard to believe what happened. I mean, I never doubted he had the ability to win the Masters. But the fact it actually happened was a surprise.”
But the demands — from media, sponsors, family and friends — have been sudden and intense. Johnson says the attention hasn’t changed him but it forced him into an unforeseen position.
“I’ve learned to say no,” he said. “I don’t like to do that, but it’s not humanly possible for me to say yes to everything.”
The welcomed tradeoff for all of this is obvious: money. His earnings for his first six tournaments this year was $194,901. His earnings for the past five: $1.8 million.
“The best thing about this is the job security, because we know he has a place to play for the next five years,” said Kim Johnson, alluding to the exemption for winning a major. “That’s what people don’t realize about golf. Just because you’re on the Ryder Cup team and you’ve won a golf tournament, it doesn’t mean you’re set.”
Had this not worked out, she said, “I guess it would’ve been back to the Nationwide Tour.” Or she could’ve gone back to her social-services job in Orlando.
But that’s not happening. Not now. Even if Johnson isn’t yet among the tour’s elite, it said something when he followed up a potentially draining Masters experience with a sixth-place finish in the Verizon Heritage in Hilton Head.
His putting will need to improve from Thursday to climb the leaderboard. But there’s no reason to think he can’t win here. His only two victories have come in Georgia: the Masters and the 2004 BellSouth.
Another win, and he might even raise an eyebrow at Sugarloaf.
Permalink | Comments (3) | Post your comment | Categories: Golf, Jeff Schultz
Comments
By GTwig
May 18, 2007 10:40 AM | Link to this
“But his following for Thursday’s first round (maybe a few dozen fans) remained a distant second to the freak show that is John Daly (a couple of hundred).”
I noted that many of those following the Daly freak show were overweight and wearing UGA caps…if that tells you anything
By ET
May 18, 2007 10:50 AM | Link to this
By ignoring the NCAA regional championship golf tournament taking place Thursday, Friday and Saturday this week in Atlanta, the AJC has reached a new depth of mediocrity in sports coverage. After the first day, GT, UGA and Georgia State were in the top four, yet the AJC did not even have the box score. It is a wonder the NCAA continues to award Atlanta championship events. It is no wonder Atlanta has a bad reputation as a spectator town. The AJC is a major reason for spectator indifference. Perhaps the growing indifference toward the AJC itself will eventually take care of the problem.
By Mike Stamus
May 18, 2007 6:44 PM | Link to this
Just wondered if the AJC realized there are more Georgia Tech alumni (six) playing in the AT&T Classic than there are current players participating in the NCAA Eaat Regional being played down the road in Alpharetta (Hello!!). And that a Yellow Jacket is the current leader of BOTH EVENTS after 36 holes!