What they said: Zach Johnson

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As part of Tuesday's announcement by PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem concerning the TOUR's renewed commitment to charitable efforts, veteran pro Zach Johnson discussed the involvement from a tournament's perspective, as well as his flood-relief efforts in his home state of Iowa last summer:

Zach Johnson

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Flash back, I remember I was at the U.S. Open last year at Torrey Pines and had my family out there. They had just flown in mid-week, probably Tuesday or Wednesday of that week, and prior to that they were sandbagging, expecting some sort of high water just based on what had happened, a culmination of a lot of snow and certainly rain in the spring.

We were out there in San Diego, and I played Thursday's round and started -- water started to rise, started to rise, started to rise. We're seeing it on CNN, we're seeing it on the internet, videos and that sort of thing. Get out there Friday, play my round, and I think I played late that day if I'm not mistaken. And I got done with my round, and I didn't play very well. I don't know what I shot, but quite a bit over. One of our media relations guys pulled me aside and said, there's quite a few people that want to hear from you. I'm like, did I do something wrong, rules infraction? What happened? Then I pulled up there and I saw all their faces, and I thought, oh, I know exactly what this is about. Basically Friday my hometown alone, the river crested about 22 feet above flood level in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, which you can't prepare yourself for emotionally. It was just an instant shock to the system. So at that point for me golf, work, everything just kind of seemed peripheral. My focus and my prayers and my heart was certainly back home.

I remember we flew from San Diego, I think us three here if I'm not mistaken, to Hartford, to a board meeting there, and I remember after the board meeting pulling Tim aside, and he was well aware of the situation and so was everybody else on the staff of the TOUR. He said, anything we can do. In a matter of five minutes the TOUR already put together an initiative just for about a two or three-month period, especially when the TOUR was kind of coming back to that area, to the Midwest, where players and whoever, if they cared to donate a part of their check, a percentage, a flat donation during the week of a tournament, these tournaments, this program was already put together. I mean, it was on pgatour.com in a matter of days.

You know, right there it just gave me instant gratification as to I'm honored and privileged to be on the PGA TOUR, knowing what they did that quickly, where their heart was, where their mindset was certainly just helped me emotionally, making sure that -- I just felt that being associated with this organization, I'm very lucky.

So as we go further, my wife and I sat down and said we want to do something. Speaking to my agent, speaking to some sponsors of mine, we want to do something back home that can at least uplift the spirits, at least throw a smile on some faces. My hometown had 25,000 to 30,000 people displaced, which was about a fourth of the city. I think their total now is about $4 to $5 billion in damage. Obviously not a good situation, a situation that you can't plan for nor combat in an immediate fashion.

You know, the one thing that my wife and I, we always -- not always, but consistently draw back on is we feel very blessed to be out here. We're obviously chasing a white golf ball, hitting it and chasing it again, so we feel like I'm able to play golf for a living, and I've been given a lot. So with that, much is expected. That's our responsibility.

We put together a nice thing back home, that was probably in August. In a matter of three or four weeks, five weeks, it was about a month, myself, my wife, a couple of sponsors of ours and some local companies and the University of Iowa -- it was four weeks, we put together a nice golf outing in Iowa City and were able to raise some good money. We raised almost $500,000. Conveniently it rained the entire day (laughter).

I asked two guys to come up and play, and we did a nine-hole exhibition, and the first two guys on my list -- well, these guys were on there, but I think one of them was battling for the Ryder Cup and that sort of thing, so I asked Chris DiMarco who lived right next to me at the time, and then a good buddy of mine Todd Hamilton who had Midwest ties, and I didn't have to ask twice. Those two guys jumped on a plane, came up, we had a great day, coordinated it around an Iowa State football game, raised some funds, but more than that raised and maintained awareness in that area, because when that hit in June it seemed like our country was getting compounded with a lot of issues. Certainly the economy was going in the direction it has gone, then you had some hurricanes in the south, you had the elections, and the awareness just kind of quit. No one's fault, that's just where it went. So that was the main point of that.

The beauty of that awareness was I remember getting the phone call -- actually, I was sitting at home watching a basketball game -- excuse me, a football game, and someone from PGA TOUR Productions contacted my agent and said, we'd like to do a piece on this flood benefit thing you're doing. I'm like, okay. You guys would like to show up for the event, that would be great. They're like, we want to do more than that. In a matter of three hours they put together I'd say probably about a 10 to 12-minute documentary on Cedar Rapids alone and the floods, kind of had me back there. It was the first time I had been back, so emotions were certainly like a roller coaster. And this DVD that Tour Productions put together, strictly their expense, they came up and did the whole thing, two or three hours of my time, we have this now certainly on DVD and we're able to use it for the future. We're able to use it for maintaining awareness, use it for companies or even individuals that really want to be a part of helping families out and kids out.

So I applaud the TOUR for taking a stance on that. That was totally unexpected and something that I get comments on all the time when I go back to Iowa. That was big.

On the flipside, I've been with the John Deere Classic on their board for a number of years, and that's been a learning experience, a great experience. It's one of those things where I've got some ties back there. They've been great to me. The people on that board, the people that run that tournament make it worth my time. They're fantastic individuals. They get it. I know it's not a highlight on most of the guys' schedules (laughter), but it is on mine. It's one of those tournaments where it's very family oriented, they do some things, extracurricular away from the golf course, that really lend itself to being just fun. They do this Big Dig thing with John Deere equipment, and it makes the families and the kids just have a good evening.

Pertaining to what we're talking about today, the charitable efforts that this tournament goes through and the emphasis they put on it, quite honestly it's the reason why they do it. Last year in 2008 alone, I want to say they raised $4-1/2 to $5 million in charitable efforts, and those monies were spread out through nearly 100 charities, most of which the TOUR joins hands with anyway. It's really the driving force behind that tournament and certainly that community for charitable efforts.

I don't know specifics on other tournaments, but I know the John Deere is the number one charitable organization we have from a per capita standpoint. I think it's No. 6-overall on the PGA TOUR. Clair Peterson and everybody that works on that board back in the Quad Cities, their outlook is exactly what we're talking about today. It's charity-driven. Sure, we've got a great golf tournament on a great golf course, but when it comes down to it, we're trying to help people. I applaud the TOUR. I applaud the tournament. And I certainly applaud all the players for making this an important part of how we go about our business, because as I said before, we're very blessed, and to be able to give back is a privilege.