Zach Johnson Wins Masters Tournament

"It's a Cinderella story, from out of nowhere..."

Who didn't think the Bill Murray line from Caddy Shack when Zach Johnson hit that miracle putt?  "It's in the hole!  It's in the hole!"  But, there was a lot more going on today than that.  He kept his cool, played his best and held off all comers.

When he walked off the course as the leader at +1, what could Johnson have been thinking?  He was not even the best player on his high school golf team in Iowa.  He did manage to get a scholarship to Drake.  He turned pro in 1998 and has put his all into golf.  And his reward is THE green jacket.  Not just his first Masters win, but only his second win ever in 99 PGA tournaments.  What was the first thing he did when he came off of 18.  He was waylayed by a reporter and here is what he had to say.  He commented that this being Easter Sunday made a difference to him.  He mentioned his spirituality and feeling Jesus with him at every hole.  He also mentioned his late grandfather being with him in spirit.  Then he went over and kissed his infant son, Will and his wife, Kim. 

In a 2006 interview, he explained about what appears on his golf balls.  Johnson's wife, Kim, had manufactured a personal ball mark for him. On one side she inscribed the words, "Trust your line," accompanied by the notation Proverbs 3:5,6, which says: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight." Johnson would set that side up on the putting green and recite the proverbial words to himself.

The reverse side of the homemade mark helped shape Johnson's mindset elsewhere on the course. The inscription was, "One shot at a time," and the Scripture passage was Matthew 6:33-34: "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be given to you. Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow has enough worry of its own."

"Those verses kind of kept me at ease," Johnson says. "I don't know if I was communicating with God at the time I was playing, but I felt like I was closer with Him at the time than with anybody else.

Today, a very emotional Johnson let it be known that the Lord is with him always.  Why can't more athletes be like him?