Johnson delivers eagle ending

Bryce Alderton

NEWPORT BEACH -- Others pushed, but Mark Johnson, a.k.a “The Beer

Man,” wouldn’t budge.

Despite some erratic drives and missed putts, Johnson’s lob wedge

did the loudest talking during Sunday’s final round of the Toshiba

Senior Classic at Newport Beach Country Club.

Johnson, 50, seeking not only his first PGA Champions Tour victory

but inaugural meaningful professional win, holed out from 91 yards

for an eagle 3 on the par-5 18th hole, sealing the Toshiba title.

The ball hit six feet behind the back-left flagstick, then spun

back into the cup. Johnson, the 1996 California State amateur

champion who drove Budweiser trucks for a distributorship for 18

years before concentrating on golf six years ago, leaned back with a

huge smile on his face and embraced longtime caddie Doug Matteson

amidst roars.

Johnson (67-63-70 -- 200, 13-under) repaired his ball mark,

retrieved his ball from the cup, underhanded it to fans and moments

later took a celebratory sip of beer while standing on the 18th

green.

Keith Fergus (67-66-71 -- 204) and Wayne Levi (66-68-70 -- 204)

tied for second at 9-under while Don Pooley, who shot the best final

round at 6-under 65, first-round leader Gil Morgan and John Bland all

finished 8-under 205.

Johnson’s largest Champions Tour payday prior to earning $247,500

for his victory Sunday was $44,000 at last year’s Administaff Small

Business Classic in Houston.

His winning check also surpassed his previous career earnings

combined on the Champions Tour, PGA Tour and Nationwide Tour

($215,980).

“That’s an awful lot of money for a beer truck driver,” said

Johnson, who repeatedly thanked sponsors and colleagues at H. Olson

Distributorship in Barstow, Calif., where he has worked for 25 years.

“It would take me seven or eight years delivering beer to earn that

much. The goal is to pay all the sponsors back.” The task Sunday was

to hold the lead, which he did, though not without some scrambling.

Johnson entered Sunday with a three-shot lead over playing partner

Keith Fergus and upped the advantage to four with a birdie on the

par-4 first hole.

Fergus, 51, a three-time winner on the PGA Tour seeking his first

Champions Tour victory, moved one back of Johnson after a birdie on

the par-4 second.

Johnson double bogeyed the hole after hitting his tee shot into

oleander bushes right of the fairway.

Johnson hit a provisional, but found his first ball.

His first ball was unplayable, so Johnson was forced to return to

the tee and hit again, his third shot.

“I couldn’t get two club lengths,” Johnson said. “But I told

myself to make a few birdies and keep patient.” The strategy paid

dividends almost immediately.

Johnson regained a three-shot lead at 12-under after a birdie on

the par-5 third hole while Fergus bogeyed.

Johnson’s lead never dwindled to less than two strokes Sunday.

Pooley was the only player to make a significant move, jumping 24

spots from a tie for 28th on Saturday to a tie for fourth finish.

Johnson bogeyed the par-4 11th and Fergus’ birdie at No. 12 cut

the deficit to two strokes.

It stayed that way until the 492-yard par-5 15th.

Johnson moved to even par for the round and upped his lead to four

shots after an eagle 3, hitting driver-5-iron to within 13 feet and

sinking the putt.

Fergus, who led the 78-player field in average driving distance

(291.7 yards), settled for par after three-putting.

“I was thinking just get it online and see what happens,” Johnson

said of his eagle putt. “Then I thought I was in good position.”

Johnson saved par out of the greenside bunker on the par-4 16th,

but took a bogey on the par-3 17th, after hitting his 7-iron tee shot

onto the back fringe and falling victim to a treacherous, sloping

green.

Johnson, who hit 10 of 14 fairways, took a two-stroke lead into

18, but sliced his tee shot into the right rough. He punched out with

a 6-iron and then hit the fateful lob wedge.

“When good stuff happens, you win,” said Fergus, who played in the

final group at last week’s SBC Classic, where he finished sixth.

“It’s good for golf. It was like a hospital arena out there, but I

like it. I had my group and every one was well behaved. I’m excited,

this is a great way to end a tournament.

“But four three-putts is tough to overcome.”

Johnson didn’t need his putter on 18 and finished the final round

without a three-putt.

Although Johnson hit just 25 of 42 fairways in three rounds, he

ranked first in putts per round (26).

Johnson, who drinks non-alcoholic brews and has been sober for 23

years, said he wasn’t nervous and played to the enthusiastic crowds.

He equated the gallery support to that of shooting a 65 in a

Monday qualifier at the 2000 AT&T; Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, where

the “Beer Man” moniker originated.

“I can’t believe [a win] has happened this soon,” Johnson said.

“One thing that helped me is I played a lot of competitive golf.”

Johnson spent five years on the Canadian Tour along with

additional time on satellite tours. The Helendale, Calif., resident

also spent five years attempting to qualify for the PGA Tour at

Q-School.

“It all helps, this is unbelievable.”

“Everyone’s going to celebrate this.”

Among Johnson supporters in attendance Sunday were his mother and

father, Jackie and Don, brother Don, and children Ryan and Heather.

“This is what makes the Champions Tour,” Tom Purtzer, the 2004

Toshiba champion, said of Johnson’s victory.

“Everyone is pulling for him.”