With rookie caddie, it was Johnson's Deere Classic

PGA Tour caddies must be part-expert of golf, part-valet, and part-pack mule.

Mike Bender knew he could be the first two of those things when he substituted as Zach Johnson's caddie in last year's John Deere Classic. The part about carrying a lot of weight for several miles a day was an eye-opener for the noted golf instructor and former PGA Tour player.

Johnson needed a fill-in for his Tour caddie of the last 10 seasons, Damon Green. Because Green finished in the top 16 of the 2011 U.S. Senior Open, he was qualified for that event last year. It was held during the same week as the JDC.

Bender, a Waterloo native who has been a renowned golf teacher in the Orlando, Fla., area, for many years, has been Johnson's swing coach for over a decade. But Johnson didn't automatically think of Bender as caddie material for a week.

“Because I don't think you'll make it,” is how Bender remembered Johnson saying it.

“Zach,” Bender says he replied, “I don't care if you don't want me to caddie. But don't tell me I can't make it.

“By the second hole on Thursday, I realized this was a lot harder than I thought. I was thinking I may not be able to make it. I was popping Advil.

“The bag is 50 pounds. It's like a giant water drum strapped to your back and you're walking around all day long.”

On top of that, Johnson shot a 1-over-par 37 over his first nine holes of the tourney. But the rest of the story is JDC lore. Johnson finished the first-round crisply for a 68. He followed that with rounds of 65, 66 and 65 for a 20-under 264, sending him into a sudden-death playoff with Troy Matteson.

“(Caddying) got a little easier every day,” said Bender. “Maybe that's because he was playing well and we were in the hunt.”

But the leader at the end of each of the first three rounds was Matteson, who was up by three shots on Steve Stricker and four on Johnson and Brian Harman entering Sunday's play.

Still, Bender said, “I knew (Johnson) was going to win the tournament.”

He couldn't have felt strongly about that six holes into the final round. Johnson had recorded nothing but pars, and his first JDC title in 11 appearances didn't look like all that attainable.

“At the sixth hole I said to Zach ‘You're playing his game,' because he was playing with Brian Harman, and that guy plays really fast. I said ‘We've got to slow down, let's not play his game.' So he took his time. The next hole, he made birdie. The next hole after that, he made birdie. He got back on track.”

“Mike made a phenomenal observation on hole 6,” Johnson said. “I was a little quick. Then I started to settle down, made a good (par) save there, and that just kind of led into the rest of the round.

“The save on 6 and the birdie on 7 just really kick-started us and calmed me down. You know, I felt great. Mike and I were talking about the most random things. But you should, I think. That's the way it should be, just strolling in the park.”

Johnson birdied six of those last 12 holes. Then came the playoff, when Johnson followed Matteson's second shot into the pond bordering the 18th green with one of his own, and both scratched out double-bogeys.

They went back to 18 for the second playoff hole, and Johnson again put his tee shot in the leftside fairway bunker, 192 yards from the pin.

“Ian Baker-Finch said (on the CBS telecast) that he bet Zach wished he had his regular caddie there,” said Bender.

Johnson then struck one of the Tour's shots of the year. He put it onto the front of the green, and it rolled and rolled until it stopped within a foot of the cup. His tap-in birdie was a tournament-winner.

“Three weeks later,” Bender said, “I saw (Baker-Finch) and asked ‘Is that shoe still in your mouth?' ”

Bender tried to loosen the flag from the flagstick at 18 for a souvenir. He couldn't, so he carried the stick up the hill from the green, and into the TPC Deere Run clubhouse. The flag is now on display at the Mike Bender Golf Academy in Lake Mary, Fla. The final funding for Bender's new facility came from his share of Johnson's $828,000 winner's check.

Bender missed his flight connections to Orlando because of the post-tourney ceremonies for the winner, and didn't mind a bit. He stayed behind, stayed up late, and overworked a rewind button on a remote control.

“I watched the replay of that bunker shot a thousand times that night,” he said”

Green tied for 17th in last year's Senior Open, barely missing a third-straight berth in the event. He didn't advance from a sectional qualifier a couple weeks ago, so he'll be on Johnson's bag next week at TPC Deere Run. Which means Bender's 1-for-1 record will stay intact.

“Maybe in 20 years,” Bender said with a laugh, “I'll be in the Caddies Hall of Fame for being 100 percent.”