Zach Johnson and the Masters

Its a stereotypical assumption that men across America sit around on Thanksgiving Day watching football after a big meal. The scene was similar yesterday -- men (and women) enjoying America's most endearing event in golf, the Masters, on Easter Sunday. For Cedar Rapidians, yesterday was especially captivating, as homeboy hero Zach Johnson held off the world's best to win his first major.

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about how we live vicariously through the accomplishments of others, and even take some sense of pride in their success. Surely everyone in this Iowa community of 125,000, even those of us who have never met Mr. Johnson, was bursting at the seams.

Johnson is the first Iowan to win the Masters, and the second Iowan to ever win one of golf's most prestigious tourneys. Most of the nation's elite linksters hail from southern states where the courses are open year-round. Iowa is good for just six months of golf -- mid-April through mid-October. Even then, you might get snowed on, or lose your ball in a pile of fallen maple leaves. Serious golfers don't come from our neck of the woods very often. If so, they have left Iowa years ago.

Johnson's story is a good one -- a relative unknown who wasn't good enough to earn a scholarship at his college of choice (the University of Iowa), who played in anonymity for several years trying to earn his way onto the PGA tour, who has just a single tour win to his credit. In interviews after the last putt he described himself as "just your average guy from Iowa." A local sports reporter added, "He's the kind of guy Iowan's would want to have representing them."

All this is great stuff. But what most resonated with me was Johnson's recognition that golf was the second most important event of the day. The first was the Easter celebration of Jesus the Messiah rising from a tomb in Jerusalem about 1,982 years ago. Johnson went the extra distance in the spiritual department on this Sunday. Not only did he mention that "Someone was watching over me," as so many people do in vague reference to God, " but Johnson added that his faith was in Jesus. In this "Christian nation," God is often called out. Jesus, however, is not.

Some might say that Zach Johnson is "this" or "that" when it comes to his faith. I don't know him personally, so I can't say anothing about that. But I do know that his testimony was a good one on Easter Sunday -- the underdog Iowan who proclaims Jesus as his Lord, conquers Augusta National.