Johnson moving ever closer into top status on TOUR

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In a few short years, Damon Green (left) and Zach Johnson have morphed into one of the most recognizable player-caddie duos on TOUR.

Clearly, not a whole lot has changed in San Antonio over the past seven months.

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It was seven months ago that Zach Johnson won the Valero Texas Open. With a change in date on the 2009 PGA TOUR schedule to May, the Valero Texas Open was held last week and once again, it was Johnson hoisting the hardware when all was said and done.

But, the story isn't that cut and dry.

Every win is special on the PGA TOUR, something Johnson is no stranger to. This was his sixth TOUR win overall and the biggest of those, without question, was the 2007 Masters.

Even though nothing can top a major win, Johnson's victory on Sunday might be the next best thing.

And for good reason.

Two weeks ago, the regular guy from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, carried a seemingly cushy, three-shot lead into the final round of the Quail Hollow Championship. Johnson has quickly become one of the most underappreciated stars on TOUR, probably because of his cool demeanor, but he's also a guy we expect to close when in position.

For whatever reason, and migraine-like headaches may have been the culprit -- but Johnson wasn't using that as an excuse -- he just didn't get it done at Quail Hollow. Instead of the win we anticipated, he blew up with a final-round, 4-over 76 that resulted in a tie for 11th.

It was ugly early for Johnson that day. He played pinball in the trees at the par-3 second hole, taking a triple-bogey 6 to see his lead disappear and apparently ran out of quarters to keep the game going.

Sunday at La Cantera in the Valero Texas Open saw Johnson with another multi-stroke, final-round lead. This time it was two. Once again, the lead was gone well before he even hit the back nine.

Unlike Quail Hollow, though, La Cantera is a place where players can make up shots in the snap of a finger. Shoot, Johnson proved that in his third round when he tied the course record with a stunning round of 10-under 60 to snatch the 54-hole lead. On Sunday, it was the other players who were making up the shots, while Johnson was making pars and plodding along.

You can hope for birdies in bunches, but you can't necessarily plan for them. In the early going at La Cantera, it looked as if Johnson may have used all his up on Saturday. He didn't do anything particularly special in regulation, making two birdies and two bogeys for an even-par 70.

Driscoll

That mark left Johnson tied for the lead at 15-under 265 after 72 holes with James Driscoll, who hung an 8-under 62 on the field two hours before Johnson even holed his final putt in regulation.

On the first hole in the playoff, Johnson gritted out his third -- and best -- birdie of the day, the one that shattered Driscoll's hopes of his maiden PGA TOUR win. It was the way you would expect to see a major champion close out a tournament and a poetic ending for Johnson, who was just two weeks removed from a final-round debacle.

"I think it was big for my confidence," Johnson said. "I don't want to say it was shattered, but it was a shock to my system, that Sunday in Charlotte. I mean I was obviously playing good golf, and that Sunday didn't go my way. I felt a little rushed, had kind of a stressful morning... Yeah, struggling was a good learning lesson. I was a little rushed in Charlotte and today I remained patient and good things happened."

The win was Johnson's second this season to go along with his victory in the first full-field event of the year at the Sony Open in Hawaii. It came along with another sweet perk, too, as it allowed Johnson to leapfrog Geoff Ogilvy as the top dog in the FedExCup standings.

Three wins in seven months on the TOUR means you don't have to prove anything to anyone. However, the latest win proved to us something that Johnson surely already knew -- the flop at Quail Hollow wasn't just uncharacteristic, it was a complete fluke.

"It's one thing to be in contention," Johnson said after his latest win. "It's another to just hit good shots down the stretch, and I thought I really did that."

This guy is a closer.

T.J. Auclair is a columnist for PGATOUR.COM. His views do not necessarily represent the views of the PGA TOUR.