I never pray on the golf course. Actually, the Lord answers all my prayers everywhere except on the course.
Reverend Billy Graham
Zach Johnson's profession of Christian faith following his US Masters victory in April provoked an animated response in Britain. In the United States, no-one batted an eyelid.
On the American golf tour, details of the week's Bible study group, led by tour chaplain Larry Moody, are pinned up in the locker room. Johnson is also associated with a group called Links Players International, whose aim is to "link golfers around the world in Christ" and whose website includes reflections from a host of top players.
After his Augusta triumph, Johnson insisted that "being Easter Sunday, I felt like there was another power that was walking with me." You could almost hear the collective groan in Britain, a reflection of our increasingly secular nature, but also bound up with the feeling that a divine power might have better things to worry about than tricky downhill putts.
"I don't know if He has anything to do with golf," Johnson said yesterday. "Golf is my job. My faith is very important to me. I'm not one that's going to flaunt it, but it's my foundation. It's what's inside of me. That's the way I feel my life should be lived.
"Now, at the same time, when it comes to golf I don't really think God cares what I do. It's just a matter of how I conduct myself and why I play. It's my job, it's the way I support my family and it's my platform. That's the way I go about it."
Johnson does not look like a major champion. He looks an insurance salesman, but he has a green jacket hanging in his closet. His triumph at Augusta, where he became the lowest-ranked player to win since world rankings started in 1986, disproved the theory that power is everything in the modern game. Johnson's average driving distance was only 265 yards, leaving him 57th of the 60 players who made the cut.
He attributed his victory to mental toughness, which he will need if he is to repeat the feat at Carnoustie this week. In the last three Opens, Johnson has failed to make the cut. "I think this tournament, more than any other, magnifies my weaknesses immediately," said Johnson, who also won the AT&T Classic in Georgia in May.
"It tells me exactly what I have to work on when I leave here. I missed the cut by a shot twice. Whether that's preparation or just playing poorly, I don't know, probably a combination of both."
So has he prepared differently this time around? "The best preparation is to prepare for everything - golf-wise, clothing, equipment. I've heard some guys that have changed clubs, but I don't think I will do that.
I don't tinker much."
Angel Cabrera has been this year's other improbable major winner following his victory in the US Open last month. The lugubrious Argentine missed out on the play-off by one shot at Carnoustie in 1999. "I really didn't realise when I finished that I was so close to winning. Then I remembered back to the putt on the 18th hole which barely missed on the right. That putt would have gotten me into the play-off."
Cabrera's victory at Oakmont last month has changed his life. On return to his native Cordoba, thousands lined the streets to greet him and he is scheduled to meet Argentina's president next week. Yesterday, he conveyed the impression that he was tired of talking about the reception he received in his home country, grumpily asking his interpreter to relate tales he has told more than once. The real legacy of his Oakmont triumph is the injection of self-belief it has given him. "I feel a lot more comfortable, confident with myself knowing that I can win big golf tournaments like this one," he said, almost, but not quite, breaking into a smile.
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