Player interview: Zach Johnson
improvement’s there, especially if I can continue to surround myself around good people and maybe find a coach and that kind of thing. Who knows? The sky’s the limit. My parents were probably a little reluctant for me to pursue it. ... But you know, like my college golf coach, my teammates, my head pro who sits on my foundation where he was one of my dear buddies—his support and encouragement more than anything just to say, hey, you know what, let’s give it a shot and give it a whirl, get the finances together. I remember walking to a family friend of my parents’ who lived two or three doors down, known them all my life. I’d put together my own little contract, just kind of worded it myself and it was very rudimentary. And I went into his office and he says, I’ll tell you what … I believe in you. I think you can do some really cool things. Talked to your parents, talked to your dad, talked to some other guys, too. Then he says, I’ll be your attorney. And I’ll draw this up, as true contract so that it really checks everything off on the list, and there are no liability issues. So, I had other individuals put their time and energy resources into me, not just their financial backing. Point is, the support was immense, deep and wide, and still is. I mean, it still is. That part I’ll never forget.
“If you truly understand why you have success, then you can use it to the betterment of other people and to this world, this society …” — Zach Johnson
b A moment to reflect … Zach Johnson with the Payne Stewart Award.
about them, the intangible that we just can’t quite identify. It’s something inherent in the way they work, the innate way they operate. You can’t really pick it apart, but it’s there. I like that. When you tell me, “You can’t,” I actually not only embrace it, I relish it. So, I don’t know if it’s exceeded my expectations because I really didn’t have expectations. It’s like saying, hey, was winning the Masters a dream come true? No, it wasn’t a dream come true because I really didn’t have that dream, if I’m going to be fully transparent. I dreamt of maybe playing and excelling and succeeding at the highest of levels, but I didn’t have that specific dream. I remember when I first met my wife, she says, oh yeah, you’re going to make it. So I say, what do you mean, you’re going to make it? And she replies, you’re going to make it! You’re going to be on the PGA TOUR. ... That was just her intuitive sense. And, for the most part, she’s never been wrong.
Q: You go from a guy who wasn’t sure what he was going to do with his life to a twotime major champion and one of the most respected players on the PGA TOUR. Have you exceeded, or met your expectations? JOHNSON: I don’t know. I really don’t like expectations because it depends on how you— we’re getting into semantics here—but it just gets into how you word that, or how you process that. I’ve never really looked too far down the road. I’m not a massive bulletin board goal-setter, meaning I’ve got to do this, I have to do that by this time. That’s never really been how I go about work. I’m more objective based. I’m more like, just what am I going to do today to get better? I know what works well. I know what’s efficient. I know what’s effective. I feel like when I have outcome-oriented thoughts, the process of getting to where you want to be or where you can be, that’s potential, it can get lost. It’s not like that for everybody, but I think it is more so for me. So, what I’ve always clung to, admired, relished, embraced, is the idea that I’m not supposed to. I like the stories where I see the back is against the wall. I like the underdog story. I like the individuals or teams where there’s something 64
PGA TOUR ESSENTIAL GUIDE DECEMBER 2020 – MAY 2021
T13 Interview v2.indd 64
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04/01/2021 12:12