Short And Fading

For the first time since April 2004, the world’s top 100 does not include Zach Johnson.

That stat might surprise most golf fans. It’s hard to blame them for not taking notice of the 12-time PGA Tour winner’s decline. Johnson captured his second major at the 2015 Open Championship and ended that year ranked No. 13 in the world but he has slowly drifted away from relevancy with each passing year.

He entered this week’s John Deere Classic – the Quad Cities tournament that could practically be named after the Iowa native considering his seven top-five finishes – at No. 140 in the FedEx Cup standings and without a top-10 finish since November. As if those numbers weren’t demoralizing enough, Johnson opened his home tournament with a 1-over 72 to break a string of 41 under-par rounds at TPC Deere Run. He bounced back Friday with a 67 to make the cut on the number.

This is Johnson, among the most reliable players of the 21st century. Given his astounding 331 weeks in the top 25 in the world, you could argue that nobody has embodied ...