Zach Johnson is “defending” St. Andrews Open champion

The Old Course at St. Andrews, Scotland, is the home of golf, and may feel like home to Zach Johnson this week.

Whether he finishes his round trip with a celebratory breakfast in a Waffle House near his home remains to be seen.

The 29th and most-recent occasion the 150-year Open Championship was played at St. Andrews was 2015. The winner, on only the second Monday used in the event’s history, was Cedar Rapids’ Johnson.

Seven years later, he returns to the course where golf was born, dating to the early 15th century. Last week at the John Deere Classic, he allowed himself to look backward for a few minutes on his experience of winning the Open at St. Andrews, eight years after capturing the 2007 Masters.

Johnson was one shot out of the lead after Thursday’s first round, and three shots back after wicked weather delayed conclusions of the second and third rounds.

“I had a good first two days,” Johnson said, “but the day that kept me in it was the third round, specifically my last nine holes.

“Saturday was the wind delay, and I didn’t have to play golf that day. I practiced at like 9:30 that night. It stayed light till 11. So I practiced for an hour at 9:30 knowing I had a late tee time in the third round on Sunday.

“Sunday was the opposite. It was a very benign day and a day you had to get after it. I remember going out there and it’s just you’ve got to put the pedal down. Through my first 12 or 13 holes I hit every green in regulation and I had two three-putts. I three-putted a par-4 for par and a par-5 for par.

“My frustration was pretty high at that point. Knowing that I was in a position in a major championship with only so many holes left, I still stuck to it and I finally made a few putts coming in that kept me in it going into Monday.”

In that Monday’s final round, Johnson birdied seven of the first 12 holes, and birdied No. 18 for a 6-under-par 66. That tied him with Marc Leishman, and Louis Oosthuizen. Jordan Spieth, seeking the Grand Slam after winning that year’s Masters and U.S. Open, finished a shot off the lead.

The playoff was four holes, aggregate score. Johnson birdied the first two holes, bogeyed the third, parred the fourth, and beat Oosthuizen by a shot and Leishman by three.

Asked what his strongest memories were, Johnson said “Number one, that’s the second Open Championship that my wife’s been to, so to share that with her was special. With kids and schedule and things of that nature, she just hasn’t gone over that much.

“The other thing that was really cool afterwards was going into the R&A (Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews) building that sits basically right behind the first tee/18th green.

“Going in there and having a little mini-cocktail reception with the R&A members, officials, was really special. Them embracing me and obviously accepting me was something I will never forget.”

After flying back to the U.S. in a chartered jet that included Spieth among the passengers, the night wasn’t yet over.

“I got in the wee hours of the morning that next day,” Johnson said. “Landed in Jacksonville (Fla.), about an hour from my house. Went through customs. Jacksonville is about an hour from my house.

“And we got into Glynn County, St. Simons Island (Ga.) where I live, and met some buddies with my wife and with the Claret Jug. No one else, and the Waffle House at 4 a.m. That was awesome.”

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Coincidentally or ironically or both, there is a course called St. Andrews in Cedar Rapids. The similarities between the St. Andrews courses aren’t many.

“The name, 18 holes,” Johnson said. “I think it’s pretty customary at both places to have a frosty beverage afterwards.

“The quality of people at both, how about that?”

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