While he’s not the biggest superstar on the PGA Tour, Zach Johnson has become a mainstay for the Americans in these annual team cup competitions. Johnson has been perhaps the most consistent player on the PGA Tour over the past five years. He’s got 27 professional wins in his career, 11 on the PGA Tour, and four in the last three years. Aside from those victories, Johnson is constantly on the first page of the leaderboard and in contention. We talk so much about all the young talent on the PGA Tour, and there is a lot of it -- but many of those guys will be happy to accomplish what the relatively unheralded Johnson has done in his career.
Zach Johnson plays role of veteran leader for USA Ryder Cup team
One of the best ball-strikers in the world, Zach Johnson appears in his third straight Ryder Cup for the American side but he’ll be without his partner Jason Dufner.
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Zach is also one of the few American veterans (this is his fourth cup and third straight) who has a career winning record at the Ryder Cup. His game is generally well-suited for some of these two-man games. He’s the perfect ball-striker and always puts it in the fairway when it’s his turn on the tree. His iron play can then take advantage of having a partner that might bomb it off the tee. He’s too good and creates too many birdie chances in the match play format to keep on the bench.
Johnson’s natural partner for these cup competitions has become Jason Dufner, but the Duf is unfortunately injured and not on the team this year. The two were an unstoppable ball-striking machine at the last Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup. So who will Zach partner up with the first two days? There’s been some rumor and speculation that he might go with Hunter Mahan, another premier iron player, or Matt Kuchar, another American who’s had success in the two-man games. Johnson played a practice round with Mahan on Tuesday and that can often be an indication of who the captain is working out together.
The second half of the season was a quiet one by Zach’s standards. He didn’t contend as much as he normally would, and cooled off a bit after a strong start to the calendar year. His putting was not what it’s been, and that’s always a crucial part of the game in match play. ZJ was still good enough to be there in the final 30 of the FedEx Cup, but he does not enter this week’s competition in his best form.
Age: 38
World ranking: 16
Ryder Cup record (Win-Loss-Halve): 6-4-1
Past Ryder Cup appearance: 2006, 2010, 2012
How he qualified: Automatic spot -- 9th of 9 in standings ((3,568.694 points)
