The Cinderalla Story

Stuff like this makes it easy to forget the pre-packaged and planned travesty that was the NCAA Tournament this year. Boswell on the Zach Johnson victory at Augusta:

For symmetry, both Woods and Johnson are 31. Woods's wife expects their first child in July while Johnson's wife gave birth to a son in January. There, the similarities end. Woods played golf on national TV at age 2 and won the Masters in '97 at age 21. At that time, Johnson was the second-best golfer at Drake University. After graduating in '98, he had to pass the hat among local backers just to play the Hooters Tour.

"I didn't have very much . . . no money. Looking back, it's amazing where I came from," said Johnson, who began the day in a three-way tie for fourth place, then shot 69 to pass Woods, who began tied for second. "I thought playing the Hooters Tour would be the greatest days of my life, chicken wings and everything."

In 2001, the year Woods completed his Tiger Slam, Johnson came to the Masters -- as a spectator. His best friend, Vaughn Taylor, a pro from Augusta, "scrounged up some tickets," Johnson said. "I told myself I'd never come here unless I was playing," Johnson said. "But I came out on a Monday. I just walked the golf course. My mouth was agape. I was in awe. . . . You don't see this on the mini-tours."

Slowly, the compact 160-pound Johnson, who has the short-haired, square-jawed Matt Damon look, improved his golf game. "I kept going because every year I got better," he says. Then, finally, he was truly excellent. On the 2003 Nationwide Tour, he actually won $494,882 in the bush leagues with his straight drives, crisp irons and precise putting. In the past three seasons on the PGA Tour, he won $6.7 million and made the 2006 U.S. Ryder Cup team, going 1-2-1 for the team that was trounced in Ireland.

Finally, on Sunday, after never finishing higher than 17th in a major championship, Johnson found himself in "an almost surreal place." He was not only playing in the third-to-last group in the Masters, but he was paired with -- Vaughn Taylor, that old friend who also had worked his way up to the U.S. Ryder Cup team.