Johnson’s final round score of 66 was good enough to best Jordan Spieth by a single shot—the same margin he began the back nine with—and indicative of the unflappable nerve the fourth winningest player on tour (since 2004) has shown over his 10-year career. (Phil, Vijay, and Tiger have all won more than Zack over the same time span.)
Johnson said of his day: “I just picked it apart. I didn’t deviate from anything I typically do on a golf course.”
It seems as though Zack’s recipe for winning is a darn good one judging from the results of his mental toughness.
But it takes more than mental toughness to win at Kapalua, although the former is certainly a big help, and Johnson’s wedge play heading home, and his ability to convert with the flat stick, all added up to a hearty million-dollar-plus paycheck for a week of fun in the sun out here on the Valley Isle of Maui.
Johnson’s assault on the back began with a wedge to eight feet and bird on the very short driveable par 4 14th. Then a tricky uphill pitch into the steeply sloping, false-fronted par 5 15th green for yet another, and then alas a commercial wedge into the shortish par 4 16th for the final clincher.
It was good enough to stave off the back-to-back birdie finish by Speith, whose $665,000 second place check must have soothed his sorrows, if our Mai Tais didn’t….
