July 17, 2016
By Jeff Shearer
AuburnTigers.com
OPELIKA, Ala - It's a good thing Michael Johnson already had his passport in order earlier this summer to compete in the Palmer Cup in England.
He'll need it again this week when traveling to Glen Abbey in Oakville, Ontario, for the RBC Canadian Open.
"I've got to go," Johnson said. "I'm trying to get my (PGA Tour) card, however that may be. Trying to get in the fall series or something, so I've got to go up there and hopefully play well."
With a top 10 finish in the Barbasol Championship, Johnson qualified for a second straight PGA Tour event.
He did more than finish in top 10 at Grand National. Johnson nearly won, shooting a final-round 65 to finish 17-under par, in 3rd place, 1 shot behind winner Aaron Baddeley and runner-up Si Woo Kim.
"Everyone has a little bit of a dream, their first start," Johnson said. "It was pretty cool to play really well."
Trailing by 2 shots on 18 to Kim, who would bogey, Johnson narrowly missed a 25-foot birdie attempt that would have allowed him to join the playoff.
"Eighteen was great," Johnson said. "I hit a little weak fade out there to the fairway, had 198 (yards to the pin), hit a 7-iron. I just needed like a yard or two more and it would have been really close. Hit a great putt. Wouldn't take it back. It was a good hole. It was well-executed."
One of three Auburn golfers in the field, along with Blayne Barber (t-47th), and amateur Matt Gilchrest, who barely missed the cut, Johnson was the gallery's favorite on Sunday.
"I'm not much on emotions, if you can't figure that out," Johnson deadpanned, drawing laughs from reporters for his stoicism. "It was great, walking up 18. Auburn's such a great city. It's `Auburn family.' It was awesome. I wish I would have taken it in a little bit more, but I was pretty focused in the moment."
"It's the Auburn Family. It was awesome"@MikeJohnsonAU finishes 3rd in his 1st pro tournament ÃÆ'¢Ãƒ¢Ã¢'¬º³️#WarEagle pic.twitter.com/WK2bIY3C2i
-- WarEagle Productions (@AuburnVideo) July 17, 2016
Johnson was aware of where he stood on the leaderboard throughout the final round.
"I birdied No. 7 and had the lead, tied for the lead, for about 30 seconds," Johnson said. "Thought I could do it. I needed a good back 9, and I played well. I just missed a couple 10-footers on 9, 10 and 15.
"I really just had one bad swing the whole week, and it cost me two shots," he said, referring to a double-bogey on Saturday. "I was really proud of myself there. Mentally, I was really strong. Stayed positive the whole week. Played well. I was real comfortable out there, and I got off to good starts, which is always nice."
Reviewing his first professional tournament, Johnson was pleased.
"It was all pretty good," he said. "I only lost by a shot. I'll just try to do the same things up there."
The 3rd-place finish bolstered his confidence, as did the presence of several of his peers who are already on the PGA Tour.
"I have a bunch of friends out here," Johnson said. "It's just getting out here that's the hard part. But it's a huge confidence booster. I felt like I belonged out here this week, which was great."
Despite the $238,000 payday, Johnson said his favorite part of the week came before the tournament.
"Playing with Gus (Malzahn) and Jay Jacobs was sweet," said Johnson, who was paired with Auburn's head football coach and athletic director in Wednesday's Pro-Am. "They're both competitors, so that was a lot of fun. It's all positives. The junior clinic, everything. It was a lot of fun."
Another plus to qualifying for a second PGA Tour event, Johnson gets to put off moving out of his Auburn apartment. Monday was slated to be moving day. Instead, he'll be on his way north of the border.
"I won't be there tomorrow, so that was a big motivation, not to have to move," he said. "Because moving is terrible."
If Johnson can keep playing like he did at Grand National, the only moving he will be doing is moving closer to earning his PGA Tour card.
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: Follow @jeff_shearer