Johnson confident he can win again
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Go ahead, call Zach Johnson a fluke.
Credit his 2007 Masters Tournament win to course conditions or Tiger Woods' inability to make a late charge.
Don't be shy. Say it to his face.
"You know what, it is what it is. Who cares?" Johnson said. "I won a major in Tiger's era, so who cares? I don't. They can say what they want."
The old sticks-and-stones defense fits the unassuming Iowan. Moreover, he did birdie three of the final six holes last April to ensure his victory. Tiger didn't lose the tourney; Johnson won it.
For those assuming his only role in Sunday's awards ceremony will be to slip the green jacket onto someone else's shoulders, think again.
"Having that green jacket for a year has been a blessing, a privilege and an honor, so I am looking forward to many more green jackets, hopefully this year," he said. "I don't know who is going to put it on me."
Johnson's peers see him as a threat. His 11-under performance on Augusta National Golf Club's par-5 holes last year still draws awe, as much for the maturity it showed as his skill with the wedge and putter.
"Zach didn't choose to leave himself a wedge on the par-5s; Zach played to his strengths," said Padraig Harrington. "It is interesting that the strategy paid such dividends, but it was his strength, and everybody has to play to his own strengths."
Johnson is playing steady, if unspectacular, golf this year. He has made the cut in all the tournaments he has entered, with a top-10 finish at Doral and a top-25 at the season-opening Mercedes Championship.
His 70.64 scoring average puts him ahead of his 70.95 pace coming into last year's Masters, and he posted the same finish at Doral this year -- a tie for ninth -- as last year.
Asked to compare his play coming into this Masters with last year's, he called it "pretty even."
The biggest difference, Johnson said, is his confidence. He followed up the 2007 Masters win with a sixth-place finish at the Verizon Heritage, then won at the AT&T Classic a month later.
All the Masters hoopla led to his becoming "run-down" by the middle of the summer. His best finish between the AT&T and the Tour Championship was a tie for 11th at the Bridgestone Invitational. He missed three cuts during that span.
Johnson recovered late last season, though. He was the runner-up at the Tour Championship, finished third in the LG Skins Game and second in the Target World Challenge. The finish propelled him into this season.
"I'm one year more experienced here, and certainly you can throw in a little bit more confidence," he said. "I don't want to dwell on last year, but there are a lot of positives that I can take away from it and certainly implement. I can win here; that's a good thing."
