Masters Champion Honors God

I like golf but don’t play very often because there are other hobbies I enjoy more, namely fishing, gardening, and walking with Kathy and Sammy. The golf I play I play in the fall when the hard ground allows my ball to roll an extra twenty yards!

I don’t spend much time watching golf on television either, but I usually check in on the four major tournaments, the Masters, the PGA, the US Open, and the British Open. When Iowa native Zach Johnson joined the tour, I became somewhat more interested.

Kathy and I watched the last day of the Masters with relish because Zach was in the hunt. We had seen some of the action on Saturday. ON the final day, Easter, when they got to the final round, Zach scored three birdies that put him in the lead. We were overjoyed with so many other Iowans and then became very nervous as Tiger Woods, the great, played his last three holes. With two birdies he could tie, which was well within his ability to do. However, that didn’t happen. His typical final charge didn’t materialize and he faltered. The Iowan, who claims Cedar Rapids as his home, was the 2007 Masters champion.

Winning this tournament, the most prestigious in golf, is so major. Every serious-minded in the world knows who wins the Maters. His picture was on the front paper of every major newspaper in the R. S. The Chicago Tribune gave the Iowa boy a full page. Well over one hundred countries televised the tournament. One paper said he stands to earn between five and ten million dollars from endorsements in addition to his million dollar winnings purse. Sports Illustrated Magazine put him on the cover. He earned a life time privilege to play in future Master tournaments and a five year right to play on the tour. He joins the elite fraternity of greats who won green jackets.

The way he received the green jacket at the Butler Cabin was commendable. I heart him give thanks to God. He said that he had been blessed and that to win on Easter was special because of what the day meant to his faith. He was praised by all for his humility. He insisted that he was just a normal guy from Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He turned the biggest victory of his life into an opportunity for the gospel and he honored God, the giver of his vast talent.