Zach Johnson – He was born to a chiropractor on February 24, 1976, in Iowa City and raised in Cedar Rapids. Zack Johnson’s major title win came in 2007 when he beat Tiger Woods, Retief Goosen and Rory Sabbatini by a margin of two strokes that catapulted his world ranking to #15 from #56.
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Professional Golf Career
He played many sports as a young chap. He was involved in sports like baseball, basketball, football, and soccer before deciding to pursue his professional career in golf. At the age of 10, Zach began to take golf a lot more serious than all the other sports he had dabbled in. He went on to Elmcrest Country Club to develop his skills better in the game.
Having played golf starting at the age of 10, he played number two on Regis High School golf team leading the side to Iowa 3A championship during his sophomore year in 1992. Upon graduation, he went on to Drake University in Des Moines where he became the number two player on the school golf team called the Bulldogs. He played well and led them to three NCAA regional meets and two Missouri Valley championships and this became the turning point in his golf career.
He was not the best player in the team, but his exploits with the Bulldogs helped him turn professional by 1998 after which he played for several tour circuits like Prairie Golf Tour, Buy.com Tour, Hooters Tour, etc. and had a career earning of $500.
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Johnson toiled in the developmental and minor leagues for six seasons until his breakthrough came in 2003 when he won Player of the Year honors on the Nationwide Tour to earn his tour card which in turn earned him a spot on the PGA tour.
Zach Johnson won his first PGA tour in 2004 BellSouth Classic finishing one stroke ahead of Mark Hensby. He showed impressive records and finished third at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship and got qualified to the Ryder Cup in 2006 where he finished 9th.
His first major title win came in 2007 when he beat Tiger Woods, Retief Goosen and Rory Sabbatini by a margin of two strokes that catapulted his world ranking to #15 from #56. He also became the first ever player outside #50 to have won the title. He dedicated the win to God saying “This being Easter, I cannot help but believe my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ was walking with me. I owe this to Him.” This win went a long way in opening doors and taking him places. He went ahead to win several other golf tours like the AT&T Classic, Valero Texas Open, Sony Open in Hawaii, etc.
Barely six weeks after he became #15, Johnson won for the third time on tour at the 2007 AT&T Classic in a playoff over Ryuji Imada. This win did him a lot of good as it upped his world ranking from #15 to #13.
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Johnson got to #10 in World Ranking after winning the BMW Championship and FedEx Cup in 2013 while he also won over Tiger Woods in a playoff at Northwestern Mutual World Challenge. He recorded the 44th hole in one in US Open history at the 2014 US Open and beat Louis Oosthuizen and Marc Leishman in a 4-hole playoff to win the Open Championship on July 20th, 2015.
In all Zach Johnson has scored 12 victories on the PGA Tour including the 2007 Masters, the 2015 Open Championship, and two major championships.
With his victory at the 2015 Open, Johnson added another feather to his cap. He became the sixth person to hoist the claret jug at St. Andrews and win the Masters. The other five are Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Sam Snead, Seve Ballesteros and Nick Faldo.
Zach Johnson Net Worth
Zach Johnson has a net worth of $25 million.
Other than what he earns from playing golf, Zach has also pulled up a pretty penny from what he earns on endorsement deals. He uses Titleist clubs and can often be seen in the course sporting Oakley sunglasses.
Other sponsors include FootJoy, NetJets, BMW and EA Sports. Moreover, with an Open Championship under his belt, you can be sure to expect more sponsors to come knocking.
Zach Johnson Wife
Zach Johnson got married to Kim Barclay in 2003 and they have two sons and a daughter. The family does several non-profit works through The Zach Johnson Foundation. The foundation is dedicated to helping children and families in his hometown of Cedar Rapids, Iowa and it has been doing that faithfully. He made it clear that the foundation is his own little way of giving back to the community.
Some of the foundation’s programs include Birdies That Care – to help provide college scholarships to those in need, Kids on the Course – helping children realize opportunities in the classroom and the Zach Johnson Foundation Classic.
Johnson and his wife once created a program which raised over $700,000 for community agencies dedicated to helping children who are in need.
Quick Facts about Zach Johnson
Full Name: Zachariah Harris Johnson
Profession: Professional golfer
Height: 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight: 160 lb (73 kg; 11 st)
Ethnicity: American
Nationality: American
Date of Birth: February 24, 1976
Place of Birth: Iowa City, Iowa
Marital status: Married (Kim Barclay)
Children: 3
Astrological sign: Aquarius
