Midway through his opening round at the Valero Texas Open, Zach Johnson appeared far closer to a missed cut than a spot on the leaderboard.
Johnson initially struggled in the winds at TPC San Antonio, playing his first 13 holes in 3 over. But he eagled No. 14 and closed with three more birdies to post a 2-under 70, then went unconscious during a second-round 65 where he made six birdies over his first 10 holes.
It added up to a 9-under total at the halfway point, and instead of packing his bags the two-time major champ now shares the lead with Ryan Moore.
“You just never know. That’s the beauty of this game,” Johnson told reporters. “I didn’t have anything going putting-wise. I felt like I was hitting some solid shots and wasn’t getting rewarded, and you’ve just got to stay in it. You’ve got to persevere, grind it out, fight for pars. Shoot, I made some good pars all while being 3 over. You just never know.”
Johnson won this event in both 2008 and 2009, but that was when it was held across town at La Cantera Golf Club. Since the switch to TPC San Antonio in 2010, he has only one top-10 finish and two missed cuts, including last year’s early exit with consecutive rounds of 74.
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But Friday he played like a man unaware of the venue shift, with four straight birdies on Nos. 12-15 and a hole-out eagle from the greenside bunker on the par-4 fifth hole. His closing bogey on No. 9 was his first dropped shot in the last 25 holes.
“The confidence is there, and when you can step on the tee with this kind of wind, you trust your clubs and trust your ball, that’s pretty important,” Johnson said. “I felt good. It was hard, I’m not going to deny that. That was one of the better 27-hole stretches that I’ve had in a long time.”
Johnson’s 65 was his first sub-70 score since an opening-round 69 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, a span of 12 stroke-play rounds. The veteran has made every cut in 11 starts this season, but his T-8 finish at the RSM Classic in November remains his only top-10 finish.
“I felt really good coming into the week,” Johnson said. “Confidence was there, it just wasn’t showing up on the scorecard.”
Source: Internet
