Zach Johnson will be in good Masters company

AUGUSTA, Ga. — The Masters hasn't stuck Zach Johnson with two hacks for playing partners.

The Cedar Rapids native will traverse the Augusta National golf course Thursday and Friday with World Golf Hall of Famer Ernie Els and a possible future Hall of Famer in Jim Furyk.

The threesome will tee off at 11:09 a.m. (Central time) in Thursday's first round.

Els, 45, has two U.S. Open and two British Open championships among his 19 PGA Tour triumphs. He has twice finished second here.

Furyk, 44, owns 16 Tour victories, including the 2003 U.S. Open. He tied for fifth at last year's PGA Championship.

Johnson is the kid of the trio at 39. He has 11 Tour wins, highlighted by the 2007 Masters.

This is Johnson's 11th Masters. He missed the 36-hole cut last year after tying for 32nd in 2012 and tying for 35th the year after that. He tied for ninth in the Arnold Palmer Invitational and tied for 20th at the Texas Open in his last two Tour starts.

Johnson suffered a sprained right ring finger in the second round at the latter event, which was two weeks ago. But he played the final two rounds without much apprehension and said the sprain shouldn't be a factor here. He said three orthopedic doctors took a look at it and none were overly concerned.

'It's still really swollen,' Johnson said. 'It will probably take four to eight weeks before it really subsides.'

Johnson and a lot of others had a nice moment at Wednesday's Par 3 Contest here. His tee shot at the fourth hole was just 30 inches from going in the hole, which had been the best of anyone who played that 130-yard hole, which was fun in itself. But then it got really good.

His threesome played one group in front of Masters legends Ben Crenshaw, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player, and Johnson had a ringside seat when Nicklaus' tee shot on the hole rolled in for a hole-in-one.

'Are you kidding me?' Johnson exclaimed, as excited about the ace as Nicklaus himself.

Offshore wagering odds on Johnson earning his second green jacket range from 60-1 to 100-1. Kyle Shotton of South Shields, England, tweeted this:

'Zach Johnson at 90-1 is worth a cheecky (sic) quid.'

Follow Mike Hlas' Masters updates on Twitter at @Hlas