The Masters Tournament in Augusta, Ga., is golf’s version of the Super Bowl, the Daytona 500 or the World Series.

On April 8, Cedar Rapids’ own Zach Johnson became the first native Iowan to win the Masters. His two-stroke victory over the likes of runners-up Tiger Woods, Retief Goosen and Rory Sabbatini cemented his place in Iowa sports history.

“I was shocked when he won,” said Trent Hepler, junior in pre-business and employee of Veenker Memorial Golf Course. “I mean, he went head to head with Tiger and beat him. That’s something to be proud of. He’s the man.”

Many people may think Johnson came out of nowhere or is a “one hit wonder,” but Mark Atchinson, assistant golf professional at Veenker, thinks otherwise.

“He had success at Drake University, he had success on the mini-tours. At the point he qualified for the PGA Tour, he had earned the most ever on the Nationwide Tour, and he won a tournament during his rookie year,” Atchinson said. “He had many top-10 and top-20 finishes prior to the Masters, and he had earned $3 or $4 million dollars, so he had proved that he wasn’t a fluke.”

Johnson may have had prior success, but outside the state of Iowa, not many golf fans recognized him, let alone as a serious threat for golf’s greatest prize – the Green Jacket.

“Zach Johnson, Masters Champion . it sounds great, but I’m afraid outside of Iowa, a lot of people are saying ‘Who?'” Atchinson said.

Johnson is the first person to ever win the Masters while being ranked outside the top 50 in the official World Golf Rankings. He jumped from No. 56 to No. 15 after April 8. Popular opinion is that the same jump will be made for the popularity of the sport in the state of Iowa.

“It’s wonderful what he’s done for golf in the state of Iowa,” said Chris Seaboch, PGA golf professional at Veenker. “We’ve all been following him and he’s a great representative.

“His win will bring a lot of excitement to the younger kids and junior golfers. It’ll be like the ‘Tiger Effect’ in Iowa,” Seaboch said.

Atchinson mirrored Seaboch’s comment.

“I would say that on a much smaller scale, it will be like Tiger’s impact on golf for the whole country,” Atchinson said. “How cool would it be if you have little kids around the state pretending that they are Zach Johnson, on the 18th at Augusta eyeing a three-footer for the Green Jacket . wow.”