Victory prompts recollections of Wagner’s run of five MGA majors

 

ELMSFORD, N.Y. (April 7, 2008) – Though the NBC commentators correctly pointed out that newly minted PGA Tour winner Johnson Wagner is a native Texan who now lives in North Carolina, his breakthrough at the Shell Houston Open resonated across the Met Area. Wagner, who gained entry into this week’s Masters with his first PGA Tour victory, spent eight formative years as a resident of the Westchester County town of Garrison, and in that time made quite a name for himself as a young amateur golfer who went on an unprecedented winning streak.

 

Wagner is the only player in the 111-year history of the Metropolitan Golf Association to win the “Met Slam,” which consists of all three MGA majors – the Ike Championship, Met Amateur, and Met Open – in one year, part of a record five consecutive victories by Wagner in those events that will likely never be equaled (see chart, below).

 

Johnson Wagner’s MGA Victories:

 

Year	Event	Site
2001	Met Amateur	Hudson National GC
2001	Met Open	Bethpage (Black)
2002	Ike Championship	Montclair GC
2002	Met Amateur	Piping Rock
2002	Met Open*	Winged Foot (West)

* = First win as a professional

 

Wagner moved with his family to Garrison when he was 14, and later caddied at Hudson National Golf Club in Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y. It was there that he burst onto the scene at as a 21-year-old playing in the Met Amateur. While he had won two Westchester Golf Association junior events, no one expected the level of brilliance that Wagner displayed at Hudson National. He got people’s attention quickly as he shot qualifying rounds of 68-67 to claim medalist honors by a whopping eight strokes and carried the momentum all the way through the match play portion to claim his first MGA championship.

“He had asked me about the Met Open, being played that year at Bethpage Black,” recalls MGA Senior Director of Rules & Competitions Gene Westmoreland. “I told him the only way he could make it into the field would be to win the Met Amateur, and that’s exactly what he did.”

Three weeks later at the Met Open, Wagner continued his fine play with an impressive three-stroke victory at Bethpage Black, punctuated by a final-round 66. The win was only the fifth for an amateur in the 86-year history of the Met Open history, and made Wagner the second player (after George Zahringer III in 1985) to win both the Met Amateur and the Met Open in the same year.

As good as Wagner’s 2001 season was, 2002 would be even better. He won the Ike Championship at Montclair Golf Club in West Orange, N.J., shooting 66-65 over the final two rounds for a three-round total of 203, a record that still stands. He then successfully defended his Met Amateur title with a 3 & 2 final-match victory over Andrew Svoboda at the Piping Rock Club on Long Island, his fourth consecutive MGA major championship and the second leg of the “Met Slam.”

Wagner turned pro before his last MGA event, the 2002 Met Open at Winged Foot Golf Club. He arrived ready to earn his first paycheck, and did just that, winning the MGA’s most prestigious event on one of the most famous golf courses in the world by five strokes. That Met Open title made Wagner the only player in the 111-year MGA history – a history that includes names such as Sarazen, Nelson, Turnesa, Siderowf, and Zahringer – to win all three MGA major championships in the same year.

Adds Westmoreland, “Johnson’s meteoric run through five MGA majors in 2001-2002 may never be duplicated. He is admired as a competitor and a champion, but will be remembered for even more, as a class player and a gentleman.”

 

Recalls MGA Executive Director Jay Mottola, “Someone once asked me how Johnson Wagner handles adversity on the golf course. I responded that I didn’t know, because I’ve never seen him play a bad round in an MGA event.”

 

“I was always struck by the similarities between Johnson and Jim McGovern,” says Mottola of another two-time MGA major champion who went on to PGA Tour success. “They both are big, strong guys who came to the top of the local golf scene quickly, and dominated on U.S. Open-level golf courses against very strong fields. They always seemed to be able to raise their games on the biggest stages.” Of course, another similarity between the two players is that McGovern also earned his first career PGA Tour win in Houston, fifteen years ago in 1993.

 

After his MGA career was complete, Wagner tried unsuccessfully to make the PGA Tour through Q-School and instead spent four seasons on the Nationwide Tour, finally breaking through with two wins in 2006 to earn his first shot at the PGA Tour. He made it into the field at the first-ever FedEx Cup Playoff event at Westchester Country Club last August, but still had to scramble to finish in the top 125 and retain his status for 2008. Wagner had struggled so far this season, but a week in Florida last month with longtime instructor Bobby Heins of Old Oaks Country Club in Purchase, N.Y., helped him find his game again. Heins sees a bright future for his prized pupil.

 

“Now he has the luxury to relax and just play golf, and improve even more,” said Heins. “He’s reached that next level, and I truly believe there is no ‘top’ for him. He is a guy with a lot of self-confidence, and he doesn’t have to go looking for it anywhere. As for The Masters, he’s pumped and ready to go.”

 

Wagner’s journey to this point in his professional career may have begun in Texas, but it grew and blossomed in the Met Area during the summers of 2001 and 2002, and it left its legacy with Wagner’s name all over the MGA record books.