Zach Johnson's mom sees him win a PGA Tour event in person for the first time

After seeing each of her son's previous five PGA Tour wins on television, Julie Johnson of Cedar Rapids was present for Zach Johnson's Texas Open win Sunday in San Antonio.

She and her husband, Dave Johnson, originally planned to head back home Sunday afternoon because Dave, a chiropractor, had a lot of patients with appointments to see him on Monday morning.

Dave left La Cantera Golf Club after nine holes to catch his connecting flight to Dallas, but Julie stayed behind and will come home Monday.

"I'm very happy I stayed," she said Sunday night. "What a wonderful experience."

She and Zach's wife, Kim, followed Zach for the first nine holes, then returned for the final two holes of regulation and the sudden-death playoff hole in which Zach defeated James Driscoll.

"It was nerve-racking," Julie said, "but when (Paul) Goydos bogeyed on 18, I knew Zach would be first or second, and that gave me a sense of calm."

After Zach won, he was accompanied on the green by his wife, son Will, and Julie.

"The people who ran the tournament were so gracious," Julie said. "It was a really positive experience."

"Unbelievable," Dave Johnson described Zach's win as he sat in a plane in Dallas that hadn't yet begun take-off for its trip to Cedar Rapids.

"I told a lot of people that I thought his win here last year (in October) would do as much for his future as anything, including his Masters win in '07."

Johnson has won twice and had five more Top Tens since that October victory, making Dad look pretty smart.

Finally, this is from Zach's comments at his press conference after Sunday's win:

"My dad's seen me win I think three times. So my mom has not. She has a little bit of an anxiety streak, if you will. That's just being a mom. She just worries.

"It was a little convincing just to keep her here, and quite honestly, they've seen me play golf a lot. They watched me a little this week. My dad watched every hole with the exception of flying back today.

"They didn't come down here to see me. They came to see my son. I was chopped liver relative to that. I'm just glad my mom was able to come down and witness a win. They canceled a trip to Mexico to be here, an anniversary trip at that, so yeah, that's pretty awesome.

"They're the two that kind of got me going in the game in the first place. So it's nice, nice to share it with them."