49 Feelings in the PGA Tour

Popular Quiz: Who plays with Justin Rose in the 2025 Masters’ 4th round? Of course, you remember Rose’s round – the exciting 10 Birds 66, which brought him into the playoffs with Rory McIlroy – but do you remember the player who rode the shotgun with him?

Is it a little bit?

That’s… Zach Johnson, the 2007 Masters champion, and while Dubia was still in office, Avril Lavigne was burning the rankings. Rose’s sensational performance obscures the performance of his match partner. Johnson scored 71 with 71 and tied for eighth with the other three. But let’s not ignore the 49-year-old Johnson’s fifth final in the Masters’ Tee Tee is an achievement in itself.

“I still feel like I have it,” Johnson said after signing that cute Sunday night card. “I don’t know pride is right [word]whatever you want to call it. ”

Pride, perseverance, determination, shrewdness, cunning. Many words work.

LongBut, not.

At least not according to travel standards. Johnson’s average driving distance of 284.8 yards this season is about 16 yards behind the Tour average, meaning that every time he plays it – 12 times on this year’s PGA Tour – he needs or at least tried highly tactical in (1) games, and (2) how He plays. That’s how you stay floating in a league half of your game and 40 yards in front of you.

Enter this week’s game, John Deere Classic of Johnson’s TPC Deere Run, Iowa. Johnson started his 23rd career at Deere, where he was what the Fred couple meant to the master, or that peanut butter was jelly. They are very good together. Johnson was born and raised about 90 minutes’ drive west of Deere Run. He attended Drake University in central Iowa, and during his mini-travel era, a small group of supporters in his hometown pinned it to him. Johnson was rooted in the country like a cornfield.

The same goes for Johnson and this golf course.

“It sounds weird, but my feet feel comfortable here,” Johnson said Wednesday. “I grew up at Bentgrass Fairways in Bentgrass Greens. I had a long putt yesterday and it was a long putt – I wasn’t suggesting that I’m going to putt this week was great – but it felt like, man, we’re gone. It’s hard for us to sum it up.”

We got you, ZJ. Johnson has participated in every Deere since 2002. Starting from 2009-17, he recorded seven top 5, including 2012 victory and 2009, 2013 and 2014 runner-up. He has signed 14 rounds of 65 or higher. He is not the official host of the game, but he may be. On Monday, Johnson stepped on a two-hour putting class and some physiology job to Deere on Tuesday after he participated in his golf game at Cedar Rapids. That night, he was in the house with some corporate big Wigs at the Deere headquarters – “Wipe shoulders and shake hands with friends I always know,” he said. For Johnson, it was a week. If he doesn’t play or practice, you may find him signing or hugging someone.

But back to the golf course. Johnson is not only thriving here because it’s a home game – TPC Deere Run favors his style of play. Its dog legs, narrow corridors and strong fairways reward placement is more powerful than they do. His twenty years of experience here are not hurt either. “I know given the conditions are not there,” Johnson said. “I feel like I have every wind. It feels like all the elements I throw at me here. Wet, dry, strong winds, and anyway, I have it.

He hasn’t finished yet.

“I feel like I can navigate in a very suitable way. That doesn’t mean it will happen. I still have to execute. I think my game is really the only execution – it’s actually the main thing I have to focus on, and I love it. I love that every aspect of the game is solid.

OK, now we’ll get somewhere! Boring golf In this era of long hair drives and YouTube competitions, it may not be good! Thumbnails, but for Johnson, his back-to-face style powers the long and prosperous run. This year isn’t all Rose – he missed 5 cuts, with only three top 25, but he’s not irrelevant either. He ranks 103rd in the FedEx rankings and remains in the top 200 in the world, which is beyond the names of three other 49-year-olds whose names sound familiar: Ian Poulter, Henrik Stenson and Yep… Tiger Hoods.

“Nothing in my game is like glitz, never, right?” Johnson said this week. “When my putters are easy to manage or work well, [my game] Can be displayed. I tend to hit a lot of fairways, a lot of vegetables, so it comes down to input. ”

Johnson also chose his attractions. This season he found three venues on Tee boards, namely Waialae, PGA National and Detroit GC, and it’s no accident, all with value accuracy and short game wizards. Johnson knows what he is, too No Do it well. On the one hand, it’s fun. “A lot of people love it,” he said. “Augusta, man, we don’t have a week, 72 to 77 degrees a day for a long time, so I’m very comfortable.” Prosperity, top ten.

As you approach the mark of half a century, this is the 1st job: take care of yourself. “I’m probably more focused on my body now than my technical aspects,” he said. “And I don’t mind. It’s just the evolution of the game and my development as a professional.”

Johnson will be eligible for the PGA Tour champion next year, although he doesn’t sound like he’s in a hurry to get out. “It’s an option,” he said. “It’s nice to know that if I want to go that direction and still compete, I’ll have a channel.”

But for the moment, his focus is on the PGA Tour, and his age is damn. “I know I’m the biggest person,” he said.[But] Fortunately, it didn’t matter when I entered the first serve. Still feel like I can do it. I just tend to take a second photo first. ”