Zach Johnson: 'I Try To Play Amotional Golf'

Zach Johnson is a rock on the golf course. The 40-year-old Iowan has proper posture, a balanced game and Zen-like focus.

"I try to play amotional golf," he says. "I try to make it so when I'm teeing off on Thursday and putting on that first hole, it shouldn't be any more or less relevant than the last putt on 18 on Sunday."

Ironically, Johnson's two most famous moments show the opposite of that discipline. At the 2007 Masters, a 31-year-old Johnson held off a trio of runner-ups, including Tiger Woods and Retief Goosen, to win by two shots and celebrate in emotional fashion. Eight years later, at the 2015 British Open, Johnson unleashed the waterworks after winning a playoff at St. Andrew's for his second major victory.

"There are times I just feel like I'm on cruise control," Johnson says. "The Open last year was one where I didn't let the emotions get the best of me. Then we were done. And it all just came pouring out. The awe of that tournament, St. Andrew's, the 18th green by the R&A Building and having my wife by my side, it was kind of storybook."

Johnson's 2007 Masters win was his coming-out-party. He made just his fifth major cut that year at Augusta, and the victory served as his only top ten at a major until the 2009 PGA Championship.

But Johnson actually started playing his best golf in his late 30s. From 2012-2015, Johnson made the PGA Tour's top 20 on the money list all four years. Since the 2012 Open Championship, Johnson has six top tens in 17 majors, including the 2015 run at St. Andrew's.

"There's not a situation or arena I haven't played in, whether it's a major championship, a Ryder Cup or what have you," Johnson says. "I've seen it all. I've experienced it all. I've experienced some high moments. But for every one of those, there's been some low moments. From 2007, or even my rookie year, I'm still learning."

Johnson finds his name in the mix again at this year's PGA Championship. After a second-round 66, Johnson is -3, six shots off the lead, but just one shot outside another top ten. Johnson obviously wants to add a third major championship this weekend, which would earn him his first Wanamaker Trophy, but he will take what he can get.

Zach Johnson

"I'm a competitor first," he says. "I enjoy the fans. I enjoy that I play golf for a profession. If anything, I hope the fans understand I try not to take it too seriously at the same time. It's the biggest and most focal point in my life. I might get chewed up and spit out. I know it's a blessing for what it is. It's just not normal. It's just trying to grind out making the cut on Friday, trying to climb the board on Saturday or trying to win a tournament on Sunday, I just don't give up."

ThePostGame talked to Johnson after his first round Thursday, while he took a stroll through "The Samsung Experience" tent at the PGA Championship at Baltusrol Golf Club. Johnson was in the midst of trying out the brand's new Dolby Atmos Soundbar, flagship TVs, headphones, cell phones and other gear. Johnson even got to test Samsung's Gear VR, an experiential tee shot at Hazeltine National Golf Club, the site of this fall's Ryder Cup.

And of course, Johnson took a selfie with fans: