Top-20 American players to watch out for in 2012: Part-13
Zach Johnson
Official World Golf Rankings: 37
FedExCup Rankings: 40
PGA Tour wins in 2011: 0
An accomplished tour veteran, Zach Johnson also had a blistering year where he went over to card 11 top-25 finishes in his 23 starts this season. A member of the PGA Tour since 2004, Johnson has won 21 professional events in his short career and also won
the coveted Masters in 2007. He has seven victories on the PGA Tour alone. A graduate of Drake University, Johnson turned professional in 1998 and joined the now-defunct Prairie Golf Tour the Buy.com Tour (now called the Nationwide Tour), and the Hooters Tour.
He earned his PGA Tour card in 2003 when he surged to the top of the money list on the Nationwide Tour. He won his first PGA event the next year at the 2004 BellSouth Classic and moved on to card successive victories in the proceeding seasons.
In April 2007, Johnson won his first major title, the Masters at the Augusta National when he took over the rampaging Tiger Woods, Retief Goosen and Rory Sabbatini. He rose to number 15 from a low of 56 on the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR). Being a
devout Christian, Johnson considered his victory a gift from God.
"This being Easter, I cannot help but believe my Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ was walking with me. I owe this to Him." He said after his successful Masters bid.
Out of the 23 appearances this season, Johnson made the halfway cut in no fewer than 19 events but was not able to translate his early success into victories over the weekend. His highest finish came at the Chevron World Challenge at the closing event of
the season, where he fell short of few strokes to take over the rejuvenated Woods. Johnson started the season lurking in shadows when he fell for high scores at the start of the season. He missed the cut at the Masters and the proceeding event, The Heritage,
but came back to his winning form at the Wells Fargo where he finished for a joint sixth. He carded another high of joint fourth at the Crown Plaza Invitational.
Johnson has been one of the prolific players on the tour for quite a while and has gathered enough experience playing on the professional turf to surge to new heights starting next year. The 35-year-old American earned $1,880,406 for the year 2011 with a
scoring average of 70.08.
Brandt Snedeker
Official World Golf Rankings: 38
FedExCup Rankings: 8
PGA Tour wins in 2011: 1
Winner of the Heritage in April this year, Brandt Snedeker is on a high for the moment after pulling in his second victory on the PGA Tour after Wyndham Championship in 2007. A graduate of the Vanderbilt University, Snedeker turned professional in the year
2004 and joined the PGA Tour as rookie in 2007.
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