Jim Souhan: Masters shouldn't be about playing it safe

Our stoic region rejoiced 51 weeks ago when Iowegian Zach Johnson employed a controlled, conservative, Midwestern approach to win the Masters.

This was a wonderful story, with one exception: Zach Johnson employed a controlled, conservative, Midwestern approach to win the Masters.

That approach should not work at what should be the best and most dramatic of all majors.

Once upon a time, when legends prowled Augusta National, winning the Masters meant standing in the fairway at 13 or 15, pulling out a 3-wood or 2-iron and trying to hit a shot for the ages. And by "once upon a time," we mean 2001 through 2006, when Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson combined for five Masters titles.

While the U.S. Open is defined by punitive greens and rough, the British Open by punitive weather and fescue and the PGA by deep fields and unlikely winners, the Masters always was defined by great players creating great shots and HD-quality memories. The back nine of the Masters guaranteed more drama than your average Super Bowl or World Series.

Johnson, though, played with all the passion and daring of someone opening a checking account. On a course once known for its risk-reward shots, Johnson avoided risk and was still rewarded with a green jacket. In four rounds he never tried to reach a par-5 in two shots, preferring to lay up and win the tournament with his wedge and putter.

It was almost as disconcerting as watching Eli Manning win the Super Bowl.

A course known for dramatic eagles, and roars echoing through the pines, was conquered by a skinny grinder carefully playing for par, turning the roars into polite golf clapping. No steroids test was necessary.

This is the fault of the Masters powers that be trying to preserve par. Johnson won with a final total of 289 strokes, or 1 over par, tying the highest winning total in tournament history.

In short, the Masters bosses tried to make Augusta National play like a U.S. Open course, even though the beauty of Augusta, besides the dogwoods and azaleas, has always been in the potential for greatness and calamity on so many of its pristine holes. Rae's Creek -- and its tributary running in front of the 15th green -- should be a tournament-changing hazard, not just landscaping.

Johnson did not tempt greatness nor suffer calamity, because he was encouraged by the lengthened golf course to play it safe. Instead of trying for an eagle with a shot that could potentially produce a double bogey, he went for birdies, knowing the worst he could do with a wedge in his hand would be par.

The son of a chiropractor from Cedar Rapids never took a swing that would test the soundness of his back.

After he pitched-and-putted to victory last year, Johnson said: "I'm Zach Johnson from Cedar Rapids, Iowa. That's about it. I'm a normal guy."

Sorry, Midwesterners. Normal guys with normal games shouldn't win the Masters. Augusta National should be a place where risks are rewarded, not avoided. Those of us traveling to Augusta this week should hope the 2008 Masters will be won by a long iron, not a short hitter.

You want four days of caution and calculation? That's what the U.S. Open -- or a career in accounting -- is for.