BREAKING RANK

Rank has always had its privileges at the Masters Tournament -- at least until Zach Johnson came along.

On paper, at least, Johnson qualifies as the biggest Masters upset in the 22 years that golf has tried to quantify the quality of its performers through a ranking system. Ranked 56th in the world on the eve of the 2007 Masters, he became the first guy ranked outside the top 50 in the world to win at Augusta National.

The Official World Golf Rankings were first unveiled the week of the 1986 Masters. Jack Nicklaus debuted that week at No. 33 before his dramatic sixth and final Masters win.

Only four times since then has a player ranked outside the top 15 in the world coming into the Masters gone on to win the tournament.

Larry Mize was ranked 36th in 1987 when he beat the No. 1 (Greg Norman) and 3 (Seve Ballesteros) ranked players in a playoff. He and Johnson are the only players ranked outside the top 15 to win their first Masters.

Ben Crenshaw was ranked 33rd in 1995 when he rode a wave of emotion to beat Davis Love III and win his second green jacket. Likewise, Jose Maria Olazabal had fallen to 34th in 1999 because of chronic foot injuries before capping his comeback with a second Masters win over Norman and Love.

Perhaps suggesting that Johnson's pre-Masters ranking was a bit deflated, he jumped all the way to 15th with the victory -- which is higher than Nicklaus (19), Crenshaw (23), Olazabal (19) and Mize (17) managed with their wins.

YEAR		RANK	AFTER
1986	Jack Nicklaus	33	19
1987	Larry Mize	36	17
1988	Sandy Lyle	3	2
1989	Nick Faldo	5	3
1990	Nick Faldo	2	2
1991	Ian Woosnam	1	1
1992	Fred Couples	1	1
1993	Bernhard Langer	5	2
1994	Jose Maria Olazabal	10	7
1995	Ben Crenshaw	33	23
1996	Nick Faldo	9	5
1997	Tiger Woods	13	3
1998	Mark O'Meara	13	9
1999	Jose Maria Olazabal	34	19
2000	Vijay Singh	8	5
2001	Tiger Woods	1	1
2002	Tiger Woods	1	1
2003	Mike Weir	10	5
2004	Phil Mickelson	8	6
2005	Tiger Woods	2	1
2006	Phil Mickelson	4	2
2007	Zach Johnson	56	15

HOOP DREAM

Johnson quit playing basketball after his sophomore year in high school because he was only 5-foot-2 and about 100 pounds. But he never stopped honing his jump shot.

His junior year at Drake, Johnson was the intramural 3-point shooting champion and got to represent his school against Iowa, Iowa State and Northern Iowa.

Held during halftime of the men's basketball game when Iowa played host to No. 1 Minnesota in Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Johnson was leading after the preliminary rounds conducted before they entered the sold out main arena. At least 500 people he knew, including his parents (season-ticket holders), were there.

He found out quickly how different a basketball crowd is to polite golf fans when on his first shot from the corner he whiffed and heard the derisive chants that came with it.

"I got made fun of in my Drake garb," he said. "I was nervous. My first shot was an air ball."

Johnson kept enough composure to finish second and still complains that the balls used in competition were not uniform -- some of them rubber and some leather.

"It was inferior equipment," he said. "I was not happy about that."

BIRDIES THAT CARE

Respecting his roots, Zach and Kim Johnson's charity -- co-sponsored with Aegon and TransAmerica -- is based in Cedar Rapids and directly benefits a different element of the community each year.

In its third, Birdies That Care has raised money for every birdie or eagle Johnson makes on tour, and the Johnsons choose a family- or kid-oriented beneficiary each year.

"The purpose is to bring awareness to the community's needs," Johnson said.

The first year he chose a community free health clinic, which provided patrons with everything from shoes to glasses to dentistry to prescriptions.

The second year the beneficiary was a shelter home for single moms, a particularly personal choice since Kim Johnson was raised by her divorced mother.

Last year's beneficiary was Tanager Place, a 24-acre campus that provides services to children and families challenged by social and psychological needs.

"Zach does a lot of things for our city with his Birdies That Care," said Cedar Rapids mayor Kay Halloran.

BIG YEAR

As if becoming a father on Jan. 4 and winning the Masters on April 8 weren't enough to classify 2007 as a big year for Zach Johnson, consider:

- He got to recite the Top Ten "Things I can say now that I've won the Masters" on The Late Show with David Letterman, including No. 6, "Even I've never heard of me."

- He got to appear with his wife, Kim, on Live with Regis and Kelly.

- He was suprised by fellow Regis High alum and former NFL MVP Kurt Warner during a taping of Oprah.

- He had the street leading to the parking lot of Elmcrest Country Club in Cedar Rapids named after him.

- He was given a day in his honor with a proclamation read by Iowa Gov. Chet Culver.

- He got to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at Wrigley Field and sing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" during the seventh inning stretch just a week after witnessing a no-hitter by Red Sox rookie Clay Buchholz from a skybox at Fenway Park.

- He made his first hole-in-one on his home course Elmcrest on June 8 using a 4-iron on the 215-yard eighth hole. It was his second lifetime ace, moving within one of his father who notched his third career ace in Augusta on the fourth hole at Forest Hills Golf Club on Thursday of the Masters.

KURT WARNER

Growing up on Adirondack Drive, he remembers Kurt Warner coming to the neighborhood to hang out with one of his best friends who lived on the same street.

"We used to play catch here and there and shoot baskets," Johnson said. "He was a phenomenal basketball player."

Warner, who was five years older than Johnson and attended the same Catholic high school (Regis), turned out to be a pretty fair quarterback as well. He won NFL and Super Bowl MVP honors in 1999 after leading the St. Louis Cardinals to the championship.

"That's unbelievable," said Elmcrest Country Club pro Larry Gladson. "How about those other kids? I bet they didn't realize they were playing with an NFL MVP and a Masters champion on Adirondack. You never know."

Among the most accomplished athletes native to Iowa, that the two most recent additions to the list of icons would hail from the same small high school seems remarkable. Johnson was a freshman at Regis when Warner had just graduated to attend Northern Illinois.

"It's amazing to have two such first-class guys from the same high school," said Justin Kramer, the guidance counselor who taught both Warner and Johnson in driver's education and coached basketball. "They're two people who stood out as far as athletes but were also so respectful of teachers and coaches."

Kramer has pictures and posters of both on his walls at Xavier High School, which opened in 1998 as a merger between Regis and LaSalle high schools. Regis is currently a middle school.

"Everyone is proud of them both," Kramer said.

A reunion, of sorts, occurred when Johnson was featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show and Warner was a surprise guest.

"Man, a new baby boy, a green jacket, Oprah ... not a bad year, kid!" Warner said.

A fellow Christian athlete, Warner lauded Johnson's example.

"I've realized that there's so many people out there that struggle on a daily basis, that are trying to fulfill their dream, and they come to the point of discouragement where they're ready to give up," he said. "But you inspired so many people, and I think that's what's so cool about your story."