Among all the winners of The Masters from days gone by, Zach Johnson can sometimes be one of the forgotten men to hold a green jacket.
Normally a quiet and unassuming figure, Johnson triumphed around Augusta National back in 2007 but has never troubled the top of the leaderboard since really.
Nevertheless, his win in 07 means he’s now about to attend what will be an 18th Masters dinner with past champions and with that, there’s plenty of stories to tell.
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As we know as golf fans, being in that room is one of the greatest honours in the game and speaking about some infamous speeches down the years, Johnson has shared a couple – including a moment from Arnold Palmer – that live long in his memory.
Zach Johnson shares his favourite Arnold Palmer memory from The Masters dinner
Johnson was appearing on the Bible Caddie podcast this week and got into a range of discussion topics around The Masters and its prestige.
One of the key factors for Masters winners is attending that champions dinner and according to Johnson, it was in there where a certain Arnold Palmer delivered a tearful yet memorable moment.
“Probably the most impactful one, I don’t remember who was the champion then, it may have been Jordan’s evening. But it was the Spring before Arnold passed away. AP doesn’t say much, at least in my time. Granted, he has been in that room for decades,” Johnson explained.
“Gary Player would always say a little bit, Jack would occasionally, maybe Watson, Phil would crack a joke which was always fun.
“But AP stood up and he did not say much. There wasn’t many words coming out of his mouth. But he talked about opportunity, how its a gift, about the game of golf and how much he loved it and how he loved the membership at Augusta National for having this event. It was different when he was competing. Members were playing practice rounds with these guys.
“And not a dry eye! At this point we kind of all knew [it might be his last]. It was hard for him to stand up and it was hard for him to sit down. We just all applauded and that was it. That was the evening and it’s something I will never forget. It’s something I will cherish forever. It’s an evening I can’t believe I get to go back to.”
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What Hideki Matsuyama did in his Masters speech which was ‘just amazing’
With Johnson going deep into his archive of stories from his time at Masters dinners, he got onto the subject of Japanese star, Hideki Matsuyama.
Matsuyama famously is not brilliant when it comes to speaking fluently in the English language but according to Johnson, that went out of the window for a few minutes at Augusta.
“The champion will speak and talk about maybe his week a little bit the previous year, but for the most part it is really just saying I am honoured to be here and be with you men. The coolest one which I have witness from a past champion is Hideki,” Johnson explained.
“Hideki stood up and spoke in perfect English, and he does not speak great English at all. He spoke for about a minute and a half for two minutes. He practiced so hard!
“The reverence and honouring of what he did that evening is exactly what that is about. There was a lot of wet eyes. He is going up and doing something he is not designed to do, more or less. Just amazing.”
Matsuyama will be among the players looking to add a second title to their name when things get underway this coming week.
Johnson, meanwhile, hasn’t won on the PGA Tour since winning The Open in 2015. The former Ryder Cup skipper, then, would surely love to break that duck at Augusta prior to turning 50.
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