[Photo: Dylan Buell]<\/p>\n
There are some days in golf when a player just doesn\u2019t \u201chave it,\u201d when the game is hard, the shots are off. The key is to still have \u201csomething.\u201d And that\u2019s how Zach Johnson won the Kaulig Companies Championship Sunday at Firestone Country Club.<\/p>\n
A rookie on the PGA Tour Champions after turning 50 in February, Johnson is literally the last man standing at a venue that will cease to host a professional event after this year, ending a 72-year run due to a lack of sponsorship and waning fan support.<\/p>\n
Struggling with his driver much of the day on a course that demands accuracy off the tee, Johnson had no choice but to grind out a score on the difficult South Course on a humid and windless afternoon. His scrambling two-under 68 enabled him to register a six-stroke victory over Boo Weekley that was tougher than the margin suggests.<\/p>\n
RELATED: Firestone\u2019s last PGA event closes the book on Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Tiger Woods and Adam Scott<\/a><\/p>\n Johnson birdied his final three holes to come home in 15-under 265 in his first visit to Firestone since 2017. The two-time major winner pocketed $525,000 and earned an invitation to next year\u2019s Players Championship by winning what is essentially the Senior Players Championship.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was hard today,\u201d Johnson said with a sigh of relief. \u201cHitting the middle of the face on the driver and not even coming close to hitting fairways is not something I\u2019m accustomed to. But you said it, golf\u2019s hard. And I was off, there\u2019s no other explanation other than I was off. Now, I finished well. I say all that, for the most part I know when it\u2019s off, I know where to miss it. I can manage it. I feel very fortunate. The finish was ridiculous.\u201d<\/p>\n He managed to all but seal the win with a timely birdie on the par-4 11th hole as he fought to hold off defending champion Miguel Angel Jimenez after beginning the final round with a four-stroke lead. Having flown a 7-iron over the green, Johnson faced a tough pitch from heavy rough while Jimenez was set up from eight feet. When his ball meandered into the hole for an unlikely birdie, a stunned Johnson stood with his hands on his hips and shook his head in disbelief. Jimenez then lipped out his birdie try and the lead ballooned to five.<\/p>\n \u201cHoly moly,\u201d Johnson replied when asked about the 11th hole. \u201cI\u2019m trying to get it in a six-foot circle and it dripped in. That was a turning point.\u201d<\/p>\n Next stop: TPC Sawgrass \ud83d\udc4f<\/p>\n With a win @KauligChamp<\/a>, Zach Johnson will tee it up at the 2027 @THEPLAYERS<\/a>. pic.twitter.com\/cLS72bYhph<\/a><\/p>\n