Perserverance, patience, faith pay off for Johnson

Six years after Zach Johnson first visited Augusta National, thanks to friend and final-round playing partner Vaughn Taylor scrounging up a few tickets, Johnson slipped his arms into the silk sleeves of the Green Jacket. He held off the greatest player in the world, survived one of the toughest courses in the world, and proved that dreams do come true.

By Melanie Hauser, PGATOUR.com Correspondent

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- It was a Masters like no other.

And one that may set the tone for many more to come.

We no longer have wonder what this new uber-course is made of. We don't have to guess what the good folks at Augusta National were thinking when they added 500 yards and a billion trees to the majestic layout Tiger Woods took down a decade ago.

And as for what happens when the course runs fast and dry?

We saw it all this week. Bogeys replaced birdies. Bone-chilling cold and wind gusts turned Easter week into the last blast of winter. A course that's normally filled with cheers reverberating through the trees was silent. No player finished under or at even par.

The pin committee went on the defensive to find new placements that wouldn't embarrass players in the conditions. Instead of sucking water out of the course to make it run fast and firm, the crews wound up watering it.

And the tournament? This Masters will be remembered for a distinctly U.S. Open look, a British Open feel and one surprising winner.

On a day when everyone expected Tiger Woods to step up and win jacket No. 5, Joaquin Phoenix look-alike Zach Johnson slipped on his first.

Six years after Vaughn Taylor scrounged up a few tickets so he, Johnson and some other Hooters Tour buddies could take a peek and walk the grounds in awe, Johnson walked off the 18th hole feeling blessed. He held off the best player in the world and a two-time U.S. Open champion and beat the nastiest conditions this tournament has seen since Jackie Burke beat Cary Middlecoff in 1956.

Johnson, who was Augusta-sized by the menacing par-3 16th hole with three-putt bogeys on each of the first three days, finally got his revenge with a clutch 12-foot birdie Sunday afternoon.

More than a few players walked to the first tee this week shaking their heads, knowing before they teed off their chances were -- pardon the Georgia reference -- gone with the wind. The hazards had their fill -- almost to overflowing -- of golf balls.

It was a week when players put their heads down and plowed ahead. The best round of the tournament was 69 and it was so bad Saturday that Retief Goosen's 70 was a miracle.

Players spent the week playing a guessing game. Try 72 holes just like the 12th hole. Wind swirling, gusting, shoving shots and putts every which way. If that wasn't bad enough, they were trying to land shots on driveways.

And just when they thought it couldn't get any worse, it did.

"When it's like this in Oklahoma, I don't play," Scott Verplank said Saturday. "Why would I go outside when it's blowing 30 (mph) and it's brick hard and the golf course is impossible? That's a good time to take a day off."

But no one did.

This wasn't just a major, it was the hardest final exam imaginable; one where the usual suspects -- save Woods and Goosen -- were nowhere to be found. And one where no one was immune from disasters. Or three-putts. Or perfect shots that were slapped into the water.

The word brutal kept coming to mind.

A day of perseverance and patience, Johnson said. One where you know your limitations and you play within them. He didn't go for any par-5s in two all week, yet he played them 11 under par. And Sunday? He just went out and played.

He was calm and relaxed as he headed to the tee. Have a good one, someone said. He nodded and said thanks.

Little did either one know.

Johnson may be the only player in the field whose caddie, Damon Green, can beat him on any given day. But on Sunday, it was Green who kept his man calm.

While Tiger was slamming clubs into the ground, sacrificing one against a tree on 11 to save a shot and fighting his swing and wind, while Goosen was making his move, Johnson was as cool and collected as a Sunday afternoon on the Nationwide or Hooters or Prairie tour.

And, no, he wasn't looking at the leaderboard.

"I guess ignorance is bliss sometimes," he said with a smile.

Johnson didn't back into this Masters. He grabbed it by the throat.

Tiger has always lived for tough. And it almost always plays into this hands. But Sunday, Johnson was the man.

This Masters will go down as one of the toughest on record. The one where Augusta had her way with the players; the one where Tiger had the chance to break his never-has-won-a-major-from-behind streak.

And no, no one wanted it to play this hard. But no one -- not even the ghosts of Jones and Mackenzie -- can control the weather. Just remember to bring gloves and a wool sweater next April.

But in the most obvious way, it really was a Masters like every other. It came down to the back nine. To perseverance. To patience. To hitting the shots. To making the putts.

To a soft-spoken kid from Cedar Rapids doing what the best player in the world couldn't do.