Golfweek

Note: This story appeared in the Jan. 17, 2004 issue of Golfweek.

By REX HOGGARD

HEATHROW, Fla. – With Zach Johnson, there’s always a silver lining. Lemonade, not lemons, flow freely in this undersized late-bloomer’s world.

Embracing the sunny side is as much a part of Johnson as his quick, compact swing and easy smile.

When a 5-foot-3, 100-pound frame limited his competitive outlets in high school, he turned to golf and learned that athleticism and desire do wondrous things in this game, too.

Years later, after a successful yet understated college career at Drake University, a dismal season on the Nationwide Tour doubled as motivator and message.

“From a learning standpoint that was my best year,” Johnson said of his 2000 rookie campaign that included four made cuts in 11 events and barely enough earnings ($10,280) to pay his caddie. “It seems the bad years were the best of my career because they taught me so much.” With Johnson, the Bermuda is always greener on his side.

He is, after all, from Iowa. Which means he’s a shade vanilla. On a recent December evening, a rip-roarin’ good time at the Johnson house included dinner for two from Chick-fil-A, a workout with a personal trainer and a spirited board game of some sort.

He’s also a bit self-deprecating, with an engaging wit and inviting manner. All that belies a warrior’s desire and a vision that has taken all the bad and made it better. Each year since turning pro in 1998 he has improved and moved closer to his dream. A dream that this week at the Sony Open becomes reality.

Fresh from what could arguably be called the most prolific season ever on the Nationwide Tour, Johnson begins the year on the PGA Tour with plenty of confidence and lofty expectations. Comparisons are a dicey business. In the lexicon of pro golf, the ubiquitous “Next year’s (fill in the blank)” is a convenient measuring stick to use when gauging an unknown commodity.

Golf is littered with the remains of players dubbed the “Next Tiger Woods.” Burdened by unfair expectations, haunted by unfulfilled potential, these hopefuls often find the baggage unwelcome and overwhelming.

However, when play gets under way Jan. 15 at Waialae Country Club, there’s one comparison that is likely to become standard fare. The ink wasn’t dry on Johnson’s PGA Tour card when he began hearing about his newfound status: The next Chad Campbell.

If Campbell wrote the book for mini-tour hopefuls, Johnson penned the Cliffs Notes.

Like Campbell, Johnson fueled his competitive fire and learned his trade on the NGA/Hooters Tour. In 2000, Campbell won eight of his first 16 Hooters Tour events. A year later, Johnson closed his Hooters Tour season with three consecutive victories. The comparisons have been flying since.

“(Zach) won’t say that, he’s a humble guy, but it’s a good comparison,” said Mike Bender, a former PGA Tour player turned swing coach who began working with Johnson in 2000. “He has as much potential as anyone in recent times.”

In 2001, Campbell continued his climb, winning three times on the Nationwide Tour to earn a battlefield promotion to the PGA Tour. Although Johnson failed to score the Nationwide trifecta (he won twice), it was about the only thing he didn’t accomplish last year on the developmental circuit.

In 20 Nationwide starts, Johnson missed one cut – the byproduct of an unfortunate incident with a bent putter. (“It was a learning experience . . . if it happens again, I’ll know to use my sand wedge [to putt] the rest of the way,” he deadpanned.) He finished outside the top 25 four times and set a half-dozen Nationwide Tour records – including money earned ($494,882), scoring average (68.97) and top-3 finishes (nine).

And he acheived all of this even though he began ’03 with limited Nationwide status. He didn’t get into the first three events and had to Monday qualify to earn his first start (Arkansas Classic).

If you compare their Nationwide resumes, Johnson earned $100,330 more than Campbell in three fewer events and ranked higher in almost every major statistical category. All of which means little to Johnson, who quickly concedes Campbell’s climb to the PGA Tour set the standard.

“He’s probably the model for mini-tour players,” Johnson said of Campbell. “He’s a perfect symbol of perseverance and making the most of the opportunity.”

Since leaving Drake, Johnson, 27, has become something of an authority when it comes to perseverance. He says he turned pro because he “didn’t want to go back to school yet,” and it wasn’t until he’d toiled on the mini-tours for some time that his pro golf dream began to manifest.

It was within the cramped confines of a threebedroom apartment he shared with five other aspiring pros just north of Orlando, Fla., that Johnson’s images of grandeur began to crystallize. Back then it wasn’t so much a dream as it was a hunger.

For the most part, the various roommates were either Drake or Iowa State graduates, and the competition was intense on and off the golf course.

“It was a circus,” said Jon Levy, an Iowa State product who lived in the apartment. “We’d have the Drake-Iowa State Olympics . . . darts, tennis, basketball, everything. We’re all good friends, but all we wanted to do was beat each other’s brains in.”

It was from this mild madness that things began to fall into place. In 2000, Johnson began working with Bender, a process Johnson characterized as a complete overhaul that made the most of his natural athleticism while simplifying what would become a very low-maintenance swing.

“With his old swing he relied a lot on timing,” Bender said. “Now he knows the swing, (and) he can fix it if something is wrong because it’s simple.”

A year later, he met Pat O’Brien, a tour representative for SeeMore putters, who convinced Johnson to give his product a try. He has been using various versions of the centershafted putter since.

Johnson easily took the Hooters Tour money title in 2001 and finished runner-up on the tour’s earnings list in ’02. The PGA Tour, however, remained out of reach.

Like Campbell, Johnson never found an answer to the Q-School riddle. His best finish was a tie for 94th in 2002. Similarly, Campbell’s best was a tie for 45th in 2000. It turned out to be all either player ever needed.

“I just wasn’t able to get through Tour School, wasn’t able to get through second stage,” said Campbell following his breakthrough victory at last year’s Tour Championship. “It’s fun once you get through it, but doing it is tough.”

Beyond all the statistical comparisons, the single element that connects Johnson and Campbell is a burning, almost obsessive desire to succeed.

“I hate to lose,” Johnson said simply, closing his eyes as if to keep the thought of defeat out of his psyche. “In golf, I don’t feel I lose to other players. I lose to myself and the golf course.”

This is the stoic face most outsiders never see. Off the course, Johnson is an easygoing Iowa Hawkeyes fan who quickly makes friends. Between the ropes, he’s something quite different.

“There’s a side of him, his demeanor, that changes when he steps on the course,” said Johnson’s wife, Kim. “From 1 through 18 his whole body, his facial expressions, are different.”

Johnson’s nickname since college has evolved from “Z-Man” to “Z-Monkey” to simply “Monkey,” but don’t expect him to be saddled with one in 2004 – not even the lofty “Next Chad Campbell.”

“I don’t feel like there is much pressure at all,” said Johnson, who begins the year with a veteran caddie (Damon Green, who previously worked for Scott Hoch) and a new endorsement deal with Iowa insurance company Aegon.

“Golf is a game and it’s my job, but it’s not my No. 1 priority,” he said. “I really don’t feel I have too much to worry about.”

In Johnson’s world, he never does.

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