Zach Johnson, who celebrated his 50th birthday on Feb. 24, knows himself well enough to understand he needed to make a choice.
He could try to double dip by picking his favorite spots on the PGA Tour while also cherry-picking his schedule on the PGA Tour Champions or he could go all in on senior golf.
It was a simple decision, really.
“Some say if you’re going to do it, just go both feet in and commit. Some say if you feel like you can do some work on the big tour, then maybe do that. I think the way I’m designed, the way I’m wired is … I commit and I don’t really look back. I’m going both feet in,” said Johnson, who will make his Champions tour debut this week at the James Hardie Pro Football Hall of Fame Invitational in Boca Raton, Florida.
If things work out, Johnson still hopes to play in the John Deere Classic and the RSM Classic, two PGA Tour events he cherishes, but he’s ready for the next step in an exceptional career that includes 12 PGA Tour victories, including the 2007 Masters and 2015 Open Championship. He will continue to play the Masters and is eligible to play the Open until he is 55.
Johnson excelled through fortitude and doggedness, using those traits to underpin a game built not on one overriding talent but on a collection of skills. He played in the height of the Tiger Woods era and had sustained success, winning major championships at Augusta National and St Andrews.
Never the longest nor the strongest, Johnson had the gift for saving shots and scoring. He won the Masters by shooting 1-over-par 289, evidence of both the cold, difficult conditions that year and his own tenacity.
“I didn’t exceed my dreams because I didn’t have any dreams that got that far,” Johnson said. “That’s just being brutally honest. … I exceeded any and all expectations because I didn’t know what to expect.
“If there is any personality trait I’m really grateful for, it’s that I’m still thinking about what I have to do to get ready for next week. I always operate right where my feet are.”
Johnson made two starts on the big tour this year, making the cut in both, but the days of fortysomethings being consistent contenders have waned.
Which lands Johnson in south Florida this week, entering the next phase of his competitive life where 54-hole, no-cut events are the rule and dinners out with old friends are more commonplace than before. It won’t surprise anyone if Johnson immediately becomes one of the most consistent achievers on the Champions tour.
Over the past two seasons, Johnson managed just one top-10 finish – a T8 at the Masters last year – and he could feel the calendar turning toward his 50th birthday. Johnson made two starts on the big tour this year, making the cut in both, but the days of fortysomethings being consistent contenders have waned.
“It became pretty apparent there are certain venues, there are certain stretches on the calendar where it’s going to be really difficult for me to win or even put myself in place to have the opportunity to win,” Johnson said.
“I remember when I was in my 20s and my 30s I wanted to be on the PGA Tour until I was 50. There was a time when I thought, I don’t want to go play the Champions tour. Now, I can’t wait.”
Johnson was 29 when he played alongside 48-year-old Fred Funk when Funk won the 2005 Players Championship. He saw Vijay Singh win 22 tour events after turning 40 and Davis Love III win on tour as a 51-year-old.
Johnson believes he was the oldest player in every tour event he has played the past two seasons and the reality of that was hard to ignore.
“I guess it’s a distance thing. I haven’t gotten any shorter. If anything, I’ve gotten a little bit longer since I was 26. So I don’t know if it’s distance or the kids that are making that transition from amateur to pro golf, it’s such a small step now. They’re more prepared now. But I’m grateful I still had a place to go to work. Looking back, I’m probably one of the outliers,” Johnson said.
During a 30-minute phone conversation, Johnson makes the point multiple times that he doesn’t take any of his success for granted. He has worked hard for what he has achieved and he intends to continue working in the new phase of his career while understanding his own good fortune.
He talks about a sketch commemorating his 2007 Masters victory that includes him seeing his family behind the 18th green. He recalls getting home to Sea Island, Georgia, around 4 a.m. after winning the Open Championship and meeting some friends at a Waffle House – the Claret Jug in hand.
“What I really take from [the 2023 Ryder Cup] are the guys I was around. They’ve had a lot of arrows shot at them. Some of that is probably on me and I didn’t deflect things appropriately but they were a team. They were great. They loved being together.”
Johnson captained the American Ryder Cup team in Rome in 2023 and, while the Europeans won again, he says he is not burdened by the defeat.
“Way more fond memories than the opposite. You know what you signed up for. There are two outcomes associated with it. You may not fully understand the ramifications of it but you understand what you are signing up for,” Johnson said.
“With anything that doesn’t go how you envisioned it, you can second guess this and regret that. There are things I would probably like to have altered or changed and I’ve said that a lot because we lost. At the same time, had I done that would we have won because our opponent played great?
“What I really take from it are the guys I was around. They’ve had a lot of arrows shot at them. Some of that is probably on me and I didn’t deflect things appropriately but they were a team. They were great. They loved being together.”
Now, it’s on to the next chapter for Zach Johnson and he goes there with a smile.