Unheralded Zach Johnson wound up wearing the green winner's jacket after surviving the toughest Masters scoring conditions in history when Tiger Woods faltered down the stretch.
Johnson, who missed the cut in seven of 11 prior major starts, made three birdies in four holes to win a back-nine battle with Woods here on Sunday at Augusta National Golf Club and captured the 71st Masters by two strokes.
The 31-year-old US player, whose only prior PGA victory came in 2004 at Atlanta, fired a three-under par 69 to finish 72 holes with a one-over par 289, matching the highest-ever winning score at the Masters.
PHOTO: AP
"I feel very lucky," Johnson said. "This is very surreal. I dreamed about it but I didn't think it would be this year. It was a dream, an absolute dream. My dreams have been answered."
Woods, who began the round one stroke ahead of Johnson, eagled the par-5 13th but then settled for pars as Johnson birdied 13, 14 and 16.
"I couldn't make the shots I needed to keep myself in the ball game," Woods said. "If I make the same birdies he does on the same holes, it's a moot point.
"Keep plodding along," he said. "This course was playing very difficult. You had to give yourself the best chance on birdies because they were hard to come by."
Woods shared second place at three-over 291 with South Africans Retief Goosen and Rory Sabbatini. US player Jerry Kelly and England's Justin Rose shared fifth at 292.
`Great shots'
"I felt very calm and comfortable and hit some great shots under pressure," Rose said. "It was a pity the last couple of holes, but I kept my head up all the way and I'm pleased with that. I kept grinding and believing in myself."
Stuart Appleby, the 54-hole leader by a shot over Woods and Rose, tried to become the first Australian to win the Masters but fell to seventh place at 293 with Padraig Harrington.
Johnson took home US$1.3 million from a total purse of US$7.25 million. He shared 32nd place here last year after missing the cut in his 2005 debut.
"Zach has been a very good player for a long time," Goosen said. "He hits the ball straight and low and accurately and that's what you need to do around here."
Denied
Johnson denied Woods his 13th major title and third major in a row. Woods is 12-for-12 in majors when leading after 54 holes. but still has never won a major when trailing after three rounds, as he did by a stroke to Appleby.
Woods lamented his bogey-bogey finishes on Thursday and Saturday.
"I basically blew this on those four holes," Woods said.
Johnson became the first Masters winner not to play in the final pairing since Nick Faldo in 1990.
Gusty winds, lightning-fast greens and frigid conditions helped push Johnson's final total to 289, matching the record highs posted Sam Snead in 1954 and Jack Burke in 1956.
The next generation of running talent takes center stage at today’s Berlin Marathon, in the absence of stars including Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge and Ethiopian world record holder Tigist Assefa. With most of the major marathon stars skipping the event in the wake of the Paris Olympics just more than a month ago, the field is wide open in the men’s and women’s races. Since 2015, Kipchoge has won five times in Berlin, Kenenisa Bekele has won twice and Guye Adola once — with all three missing today. Kenyan Kibiwott Kandie and Ethiopian Tadese Takele are among the favourites for the men, while
Japan’s Shohei Ohtani is the record-breaking baseball “superhuman” following in the footsteps of the legendary Babe Ruth who has also earned comparisons to US sporting greats Michael Jordan and Tom Brady. Not since Ruth a century ago has there been a baseball player capable of both pitching and hitting at the top level. The 30-year-old’s performances with the Los Angeles Dodgers have consolidated his position as a baseball legend in the making, and a national icon in his native Japan. He continues to find new ways to amaze, this year becoming the first player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases
Zhang Shuai yesterday said that she nearly quit after losing 24 matches in a row — now the world No. 595 is into the quarter-finals of her home China Open. The 35-year-old is to face Spain’s Paula Badosa as the lowest-ranked player to reach this stage in the history of the tournament after Badosa reeled off 11 of the last 12 games in a 6-4, 6-0 victory over US Open finalist Jessica Pegula. Zhang went into Beijing on a barren run lasting more than 600 days and her string of singles defeats was the second-longest on the WTA Tour Open era, which
Taiwan’s Tony Wu yesterday beat Mackenzie McDonald of the US to win the Nonthaburi Challenger IV in Thailand, his first challenger victory since 2022. The 26-year-old world No. 315, who won both his qualifiers to advance to the main draw, has been on a hot streak this month, winning his past nine matches, including two that ensured Taiwan’s victory in their Davis Cup World Group I tie. Wu took just more than two hours to top world No. 172 McDonald 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) to win his second challenger tournament since the Tallahassee Tennis Challenger in 2022. Wu’s Tallahassee win followed two years of
RSS