Long course? Zach Johnson's short game pays off

Zach Johnson is 155th in driving distance this season on the PGA Tour.

Hazeltine National Golf Club, the site of the PGA Championship that starts today, covers 7,674 yards. That makes it the longest course in the history of major championships.

See ya, Z?

Not at all. Not with three of the four par-5s playing 606 yards or longer and with few players in this field going for greens in two shots.

They are different tracks altogether, but maybe the scenario will be like the 2007 Masters when Augusta National was bone dry that year and played extra long.

Johnson never went for a single green of a par-5 on his second shot. From 100 yards in on his third shots, though, he was money. He also putted well. And won.

The winner here Sunday will have hit great shots from inside 100 yards and will have putted well.

Of course, the winner also could include being a bomber among his attributes. Like, oh, Tiger Woods.

“It's a heck of a lot longer than what we played in 2002 (when he was the PGA runner-up to Rich Beem),” Woods said here, “and you know, it's going to be just a great test all week.

“I don't know how much it's going to dry out with all of the rain they had, but it's playing very long right now, and it will be just a great test. You're going to have to hit the ball pretty good out there, especially if they play it all the way back. This is a pretty long golf course.”

Cedar Rapids native Johnson has strung together one of his finest years as a pro, but this tournament has tormented him. He has missed the 36-hole cut in the last three PGAs.

He has victories this year in the Sony Open and Texas Open, upping his PGA Tour career total to six. He has four top fives and six top 10s in 2009. He tied for second at the John Deere Classic in the Quad Cities last month after his previous best finish there had been a tie for 20th.

Johnson is fourth in the FedExCup points race behind Woods, Steve Stricker and Phil Mickelson. He is fifth in Tour money with $3,829,204, just $93,000 behind his personal-best in 2007.

He is fifth in Presidents Cup U.S. team points and has clinched a spot on the U.S. squad with Woods, Stricker, Mickelson, Kenny Perry and Stewart Cink.

The top 10 players in points after Sunday's play will automatically qualify for the 12-man U.S. squad that will play a team of international players in San Francisco in October.