Augusta Ambush: Unknown Foils Tiger

Apr 09, 03:35 AM

Current Headlines: By Joe Logan, The Philadelphia Inquirer

Apr. 9--AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Put the crown and scepter away. Tell the orchestra to shut it down, pack up and go home. The latest victory coronation for Tiger Woods has been canceled.

Around water coolers everywhere, the debate is on: Which is the bigger surprise, that Tiger Woods blew the Masters yesterday or that Zach Johnson won it?

Of all the guys to slip on the green jacket in the last 20 years, Johnson, 31, an unheralded player from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is the one most likely to leave sports fans scratching their heads. Zach who?

The 71st Masters, which Johnson won by 2 shots with a final-round 69, is not only his first major title, it's just his second win on the PGA Tour. His 289 total, 1 over par, tied for the highest winning score in the history of the Masters. The 1954 and 1956 champions also finished at 1 over.

But Johnson, who is low-key, earnest, unassuming and deeply religious, unquestionably earned his new green jacket and all the accolades that come with it.

Asked how it felt last night, Johnson grinned and gathered himself. "Surreal, very surreal," he said. "Very privileged, very honored."

Rory Sabbatini and Retief Goosen, both of whom also carded 69s, finished 2 shots back in second along with Woods, who finished with a par 72.

Anybody who watched yesterday's final round certainly could make the case that Woods blew it. He had the lead, alone, but he couldn't claim his 13th major, despite warmer weather and better scoring conditions than the three previous days. The Masters was there for the taking.

But anybody who watched could just as easily make the case that Johnson refused to wilt under the pressure of the back nine as others did, and he took it to Woods.

When Woods sank a three-foot putt for an eagle at the 13th that brought him within 2 shots of Johnson's lead, a roar echoed across the hills of Augusta National.

"I backed off that shot, maybe because of the roars," said Johnson, who was on the 15th hole at the time. "I assumed it was Tiger making an eagle. That was just an assumption."

For most of the back nine, as Johnson was carding three birdies against a single bogey at the 17th, he refused to look at a leader board. He didn't want to know.

He left that to his caddie, Damon Green. Plus he read the expressions on the faces looking back at him from behind the ropes.

"From the fans, I could kind of tell I was close to the lead, if not in the lead," he said. "You know, I guess ignorance is bliss sometimes."

Unlike previous days when the course was a beast, yesterday was a breeze.

When Stuart Appleby stuck his peg in the ground on the first tee, he was still on top of the leader board by a shot at 2 over par. It didn't last long. In the pressure of the moment, the third-round leader proceeded to pump his tee shot wide right, where it settled under a bush. He had to punch out, and it was only the start of his problems. Bad omen.

By the time Appleby walked off the first green with a double bogey, he was part of a six-way tie for first.

That was only the beginning, as the lead was passed around like a hot potato. Over the next four hours, leaders were popping up all over Augusta National like one of those whack-a-mole games. Including Appleby, the outright lead was held at one time or another by five players: Goosen, Sabbatini, Johnson and Woods.

This marked the first time in 16 years that the winner did not come out of the final pairing. The last two on the course were Appleby (293) and Woods.

With all of Woods' feats of the last 10 years, the most stunning development of the day was that he didn't somehow find a way to pull it out. For the first time in his career, Woods coughed up the lead in a major championship and went on to lose.

Maybe there was another statistic that mattered more this week: Woods has never won a major when he did not own at least a share of the lead after 54 holes.

He mounted a momentary charge at the par-5 13th, where his approach shot from 228 yards out landed on the back of the green, then slowly inched its way down to within three feet of the hole. When he buried the eagle putt, Woods was only 2 back of Johnson, but he was fresh out of miracles. He parred in from there -- limped in, really -- looking nothing like the Conquering Tiger of old.

He did not blame his lack of a late charge in the final round; he blamed his mess-ups in two earlier rounds, on Thursday and Saturday.

"This [round] was not disappointing today," Woods said. "I threw this tournament away on two days when I had two good rounds and I went bogey-bogey. Four bogeys in the last two holes basically cost me the tournament."

Contact staff writer Joe Logan

at 215-854-5604 or jlogan@phillynews.com.

Read his recent work at http://go.philly.com/joelogan.

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