Ex-Zach-ting His Dominance

Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, TX is a site that is rich in history and is one of the oldest and most respected tour stops on the PGA Tour. ‘Hogan’s Alley’ as it is called, may not be the longest course, but what it lacks in shear length it makes up for in tight fairways and old-style natural hills. The need for accuracy and grittiness almost personifies the course's namesake Mr. Ben Hogan. It also seems to personify the 2010 champion Zach Johnson.

Coming into the Crowne Plaza Invitational most of the talk was about Phil Mickelson who with a good showing, had the opportunity to move past Tiger Woods as the world’s number one player. By Friday afternoon that story was dead as the two-time winner at Colonial inexplicably missed the cut with a poor showing. Mickelson’s struggles opened the door for other players to cash in with a victory.

At the halfway point Bryce Molder lead the charge by setting a 36-hole scoring record at Colonial with a 13-under par 127. He remained in contention throughout the weekend but by Saturday’s end was in the middle of a serious battle with previously blogged about Brian Davis, previous 2010 winner Jason Bohn, and Zach Johnson who fired a 64 on Saturday to get himself into contention. Johnson’s precision off the tee and from the fairway make him an ideal candidate to perform well at Hogan’s Alley, but I’m not sure anyone thought that he would back up his Saturday 64 with a matching Sunday 64 and run away with the title.

His 72-hole record breaking score of 21-under 259, earned Johnson the championship tartan plaid jacket similar to the one given at the Verizon Heritage. The same tournament where Brian Davis was the runner-up, as he was again here at Colonial. But differently from Hilton Head, this time at the finish Davis was a whopping 3-strokes back and his dreams of a tartan plaid jacket once again went up in smoke. For Johnson this was his 7th career PGA Tour victory and his 3rd in the state of Texas (see 08-09 Texas Open).

Zach can hang that plaid jacket his locker at Augusta Nations next to the Green Jacket he earned back in 2007. As we all know he has a lifetime exemption to the April ‘Tradition Unlike Any Other,’ but another win is building a resume for a guy who is quietly one of the top 25 players in the world. Although he has only two career top 10’s in majors (07 Masters and ’09 PGA) he has quickly become one of the more consistent players and should be in contention many more times. Johnson’s simple swing and accuracy would no doubt earn the respect of a man like Ben Hogan…and that’s something special.

No Ordinary Day

Another win for a PGA Tour twenty something. 22 year old and former Australian junior standout Jason Day jumped into the winner's circle in Dallas at the famed Byron Nelson Tournament. But it wasn’t easy. Amid the late Spring Dallas humidity and the energy from 16-year-old Dallas area high schooler Jordan Spieth, when it came to the back nine on Sunday it was a two horse race between Day and 2009 Q-School graduate Blake Adams. Day stood next to Adams on the 18th tee with a one-stroke lead when all the wheels fell off…of both.

It started with Adams smashing a drive right of right into the mess of trees right of even the gallery. With Day recognizing the open door he decided to hit an iron to insure he would hit the fairway, as 18 had reeked havoc on him all week with three straight drives into the water. His chunky iron barely even got to the fairway and he sat a long iron away from he and victory. Unfortunately he chunk hooked his long iron into the water for the fourth straight day opening the door for Adams who stood watching in the trees trying to visualize an out of trouble shot of his own. It turned into an into more trouble shot.

His iron sailed just short and left of the green karaming off of the bank and into the water joining Day in the sloppy play festival. When it was all said and done Day had two putts to win and put Adams away with no problem cashing in his first career win on Tour and his 2nd career professional win (Nationwide event). He was able to walk off the green and greet Peggy Nelson wife of the late ‘Lord’ Byron Nelson as the new champion of tournament that was created in Nelson’s honor. In the end it was a two shot victory over Adams who backed up enough to tie Brian Gay and Jeff Overton for second place.

Congrats to Jason Day on his first career PGA Tour win and earning his first ever appearance at Augusta National for the 2011 Masters. When Jason tees it up next April he will definitely remember this fine Sunday in May and reflect back on it as no ordinary day. .

***A quick shout out to Jordan Spieth on an amazing effort this week. He definitely captured the hearts of golf fans everywhere. It was a magical week.