Zach Johnson arrives at Masters after his best finish of season

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Zach Johnson heads into this week’s Masters at Augusta National with some momentum coming off a tie for 13th in the Valero Texas Open.

Johnson’s best finish of the season came courtesy of his final round 5-under 67 Sunday.

“The bottom line is if Zach is playing well, he can play well anywhere,” two-time U.S. Open winner Andy North said. “He proved it (in 2007); wonderful wedge player.

“But if you’re not playing very well going into the Masters, you probably don’t have a whole lot of chance to figure it out and find it there.”

Johnson, who won the Masters in 2007, is at Augusta for the 18th time.

“There are so many things about my game which are so close, it’s just a matter of piecing everything together so I can get some of that consistency back that I’m accustomed to, but I think it’s close,” Johnson said at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

When asked about what specifically in his game he’s working on, Johnson kept it general.

“It’s everything, it’s all aspects of my game. I just need a slight ironing or even just some overall work, but I’m working on it, so it’s not a matter of me not getting after it, it’s just that I need to start seeing it come to fruition on the golf course … and it’s close,” Johnson said.

“At the end of last year I was really in a stride, and then the holidays hit and that’s fine.”

There are more things on Johnson’s plate now at 46 years old, and he hasn’t won on the PGA Tour since claiming the British Open on July 20, 2015.

“You know, he’s getting on in his career, and we’ve all gone through those stages, family, traveling, has a lot on his plate now with Ryder Cup (Johnson is the captain), which is an unbelievable honor for him,” two-time U.S. Open winner Curtis Strange said.

“It’s tough to get motivated. It’s easy if you get in the hunt on Saturday and Sunday. It’s about doing the work on Tuesday and Wednesday and then staying in the game on Thursday and Friday when you fight those little battles on the golf course.”

Augusta National provides plenty of opportunities for battles with its incredibly fast and contoured greens.

But in the big picture, Strange is happy for Johnson for what he’s earned here through that breakthrough win in 2007.

“You know, he’s been such a great champion and such an ambassador for golf,” Strange said. “He always gets to come back. He always gets to come back, so you never know.”

Johnson missed the cut last year at the Masters and tied for 51st and 58th in 2020 and 2019, respectively.

But he’s preparing to attack the legendary course, once again.

“I know there have been some slight changes to 11 and 15, to my knowledge,” Johnson said. “It’s not going to change my approach. I’ve still got to hit the fairways, that’s the bottom line. I have to hit fairways.”