Hlas: Iowa’s face of golf (Zach Johnson) now Iowa Hall of Famer

DES MOINES — Zach Johnson is the last player to win back-to-back men's Iowa Open golf championships, which was about one iota of why he was inducted into the Iowa Golf Hall of Fame Wednesday night.

After graduating from Drake University, Johnson made a transformation from someone who was a face in the college golf crowd as a Bulldog to a bulldog of a pro who might reach the World Golf Hall of Fame one day.

That started with a few professional wins right here in Iowa. Besides those 2001 and 2002 Iowa Opens in Waterloo, there also was the '01 Greater Cedar Rapids Open. They didn't make Johnson what he went on to become as a player, but they had to have helped.

'Any win you have — whether it's mini-tours, amateur, college — is a big step,' Johnson said a couple hours before he spoke to a crowd of 230 in Drake's Knapp Center at the Hall of Fame ceremony.

'It's a realization what you're doing is pretty good, let's try to get better.'

Unlike most of the 68 previous members of the state's golf Hall, Johnson wasn't inducted by the Iowa Golf Association for what he did as an amateur. Or as a pro who spent his career in Iowa. He was honored because of what he did when he took his game to the world.

Twelve PGA Tour victories. The 2007 Masters championship. The 2015 British Open title. Four Ryder Cup and four Presidents Cup appearances.

In other words, a pro golf career unlike any other Iowan has enjoyed.

'My guess is they're not honoring my amateur career,' Johnson said. 'Because quite frankly, we'd be done with this already and there would be a really brief hors d'oeurve and speech.

'But I do believe what took place in my first 22 years was the catapult for the rest of my career. My amateur career is the reason I play professional golf even though it wasn't very good. It was progressive. When I turned pro, the progression continued.

'Fortunately, I met some individuals along the way who made it even better.'

But this night in Des Moines was about friends and family. 'I guess if your grandma shows up, it's a big deal,' Johnson said.

It was also about his Drake roots. He stayed at the home of one of his Bulldog teammates here Tuesday night, and made Tuesday evening and Wednesday afternoon visits to his favorite eatery when he went to school here, the Manhattan Deli.

When he was a Drake student, that deli didn't have what it now calls the Zach Johnson. That's a sandwich consisting of ham, hard salami, pepperoni, provolone and hot pepper cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, and mayo and oil dressing on a hoagie bun.

A few blocks down Forest Avenue from Knapp Center is Jethro's BBQ, where they have a Johnson-autographed 2007 Masters flag displayed on a wall.

Johnson hasn't lived in Iowa in over 15 years. But those restaurants are reminders he represents the state in golf more than anyone else, and happily does so.

'I don't particularly care for the limelight or like talking about it,' he said. 'I understand what I do is not normal. There's a rare air to it. I gather that.

'But the beauty of Iowa, too, is that when someone does something that's not exactly normal, something that's kind of unique and fun, they're right there behind you.

'To me, this is a night when I give credit to them. Every week I'm out there (on the PGA Tour), there's always someone yelling 'Go Iowa!,' 'Go Drake!' I love it, I cherish it.

'It might annoy my caddie, but bear with it, Damon (Green). 'Cause it's awesome.'