Zach Johnson has had plenty of big wins in professional golf.
He's won 12 PGA Tour titles, including the 2007 Masters and the 2015 Open. He also captured championships in two of his first eight events on the PGA Tour Champions circuit.
But until this week, Johnson had never won at Firestone Country Club, which is what made his Kaulig Companies Championship July 12 particularly sweet.
"I've loved it since I first stepped foot on it," Johnson said of Firestone. "I just think it fits me. It fits my eye, but it fits me in the sense that you can't fake it around here — may have looked like that a little bit today — but you have to execute shots. It requires, for me, every aspect of my game to be on, and I love it."
How Zach Johnson overcame obstacles in the final round of the Kaulig Companies Championship
A golf leaderboard rarely tells the whole story. It certainly didn't on a scorching Sunday at Firestone Country Club.
If you look at the leaderboard, it's simple enough. Johnson led by four strokes to start the final round and six to end it.
In between, though, was a whole lot of drama. After a nearly picture-perfect (and bogey-free) third round that put him in front, Johnson had to battle through three bogeys in the final round. After finding the greens over and over again through the first three rounds (including 16 of 18 greens in regulation in the third), his greens in regulation percentage dipped to 38.9 (seven of 18) in the final round.
"After that [second hole], I don't think I hit a fairway until 13," Johnson said. "That's one of those where I'm hedging my bet on the tee. Like, I'm not finding the fairway. I'm hitting the middle of the face for the most part, but I'm not finding the fairway. So hedging my bet in the sense like, OK, that pin, the right side of the fairway is terrible, stay left, all those feelings and all of those mental sentiments were going through my brain."
Quite simply, Johnson was battling far more than the sun.
But the PGA Tour Champions rookie delivered.
He bounced back from an opening bogey with a birdie on the second hole. He padded his edge against last year's champ, Miguel Angel Jiménez, with a spectacular make out of the short rough on the 11th hole.
"That thing dripped in," Johnson said. "I'm trying to get it in a 6-foot circle and it dripped in. That was pure fortuitous."
And with Boo Weekley and Rory Sabbatini both making runs toward the top in the final round, Johnson responded beautifully after back-to-back bogeys on the 12th and 13th holes. He bounced back with a couple of pars, on 14 and 15, followed by three straight birdies to cap his tournament.
"I made two good par putts on 14 and 15," Johnson said. "After that, there were some really good executed shots. A lot of solid, a lot of middle of the face, a lot of just proper golf, and obviously the scorecard showed that coming in."
On the 16th hole, Johnson set himself up for success with a brilliant wedge shot from roughly 99 yards out that sailed over the treacherous water hazard, not to mention the hole, but rolled back perfectly, setting up an easy putt for birdie.
"I've just got to execute, stay left of the pin and I know how that slope runs," Johnson said. "I'm trying to hit [the ball] 104 [yards], 105. It landed 105, and the rest is history.
"I remember Tiger Woods almost making a couple of twos on that pin. It's one where if you have the proper number, you feel like you can be somewhat aggressive, given the conditions, no wind and receptive greens. It wasn't easy, but I'm just saying it was one that I felt like that was proper execution, which gave me a lot of confidence going into 17."
After a birdie on the 17th hole, he capped his tournament with a staggering birdie on the 18th, sending a perfect shot out of the short rough that rattled into the hole.
"I felt great," Johnson said. "My focus for the most part, especially in my off weeks but even tournament weeks, is my body. If my body's in a position, posture, stature that is essentially somewhat pain-free, I feel like I can do some good work."
Contact Jonah L. Rosenblum at jrosenblum@recordpub.com and follow him on Twitter at @JLRSports.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Zach Johnson wins Kaulig Companies Championship, first Firestone title
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