Zach Wins In Spite Of Himself
/Mike McCallister on Sunday's 18th hole mishap that nearly cost Zach Johnson an impressive win in the Crowne Plaza Invitational over Jason Dufner. It seems Zach forgot to move his mark back to its original location on the 18th green. His caddie noticed first, then Peter Kostis.
CBS on-course reporter Peter Kostis had noticed what nobody else had. After Johnson moved his mark out of Dufner's line, he failed to move it back. Green hadn't noticed; he was raking a sand trap. Dufner hadn't noticed; he simply wanted to get out of the way and let Johnson enjoy the moment.
Johnson, meanwhile, was already a bit scatterbrained at the moment; he had hit out of order at the 18th tee box, a move that is not subject to penalty but could irk playing partners the wrong way (it did not with Dufner). "Not paying attention," Johnson said.
How selfless!
Fortunately for Johnson, it was only two strokes. That left him at 12 under, one ahead of Dufner.
Even more fortunate for Johnson, he had yet to sign his scorecard. Had he done so, he would have been disqualified and Dufner declared the winner. Having Kostis speak up so quickly allowed Johnson to correctly mark his scorecard with a double bogey on the final hole to win by one stroke.
"There are a number of adjectives that I am calling myself right now," Johnson said. "Lucky would be the biggest one I can think of."
Johnson talked about the 18th right off the bat in his post round presser:
And the PGA Tour even showed the mistake in its highlight package, no doubt requiring a sign-off at the EVP level for daring to show a moment that could put a player in a light other than a positive one!