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Berth on Ryder Cup team is in Johnson’s sights

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By Don Doxsie | Wednesday, July 12, 2006 1:18 AM CDT | () comments

SILVIS, Ill. — Sure, Zach Johnson would like to win another PGA Tour tournament one of these weeks. It would really be special if it was a major or maybe that tournament just an hour-and-a-half down the road from his hometown.

He’d also love to see his beloved Iowa Hawkeyes win national championships in football and basketball.

But at the top of his wish list might just be a berth in the Ryder Cup.

And that’s the goal that’s most within his reach right now.

“The Ryder Cup, to me, is the biggest thing in golf,” Johnson said Tuesday after a practice round at the TPC at Deere Run. “That’s just me. To me, it’s right up there with the Final Four or the national championship of football. It’s big time.

“I like the team aspect of it. And it’s something I really want to get into.”

Johnson, in his third full season on the PGA Tour, is seventh in the Ryder Cup standings and the Cedar Rapids native could really tighten his grip on a berth with a top-10 finish in the John Deere Classic, which begins Thursday at Deere Run.

Ryder Cup berths are based on points accumulated via top-10 finishes in tournaments over a two-year period, ending with the PGA at Medinah Country Club outside Chicago Aug. 17-20. Team captain Tom Lehman will select two additional players to go with the 10 who make it on points, but Johnson doesn’t want to leave his Ryder Cup quest to chance.

He wants to earn his way into the international match-play extravaganza scheduled for Sept. 18-24 at Straffan, County Kildare, Ireland.

He said he’s already had some communication with Lehman in anticipation of him possibly making the U.S. team.

“He’s notifying us guys as to what he wants to do and how he wants to do it,” Johnson said. “He doesn’t care who plays on the team … everybody is good. It’s just a matter of going out there and doing it.”

Johnson has piled up Ryder Cup points this year by finishing second in the BellSouth Classic and the Memorial, third in the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship and fifth at the FedEx St. Jude Classic.

He hasn’t won a PGA event since the 2004 BellSouth, and he would love to break through in the JDC, which essentially is his hometown tournament. Not only is he one of the few golfers in the field who is from within 100 miles of Deere Run, but he serves on the JDC board, acting as a liaison to the touring pros.

As always, he will have dozens of friends and relatives following him around the course, which won’t bother him a bit.

“It’s not that much different than any other week because there’s always someone I know, friend or family. And if I don’t know them, they claim to know me,” he said. “Really, it’s just magnified a little bit more here, but I’m getting used to it …

“It’s not a nuisance, it’s not stressful. As a matter of fact, I love it because I’m getting used to it. They’re always here, and it’s great. There’s always somebody to lean on, whether it’s family or friends.”

Don Doxsie can be contacted at (563) 383-2280 or ddoxsie@qctimes.com.