Apparently, it was a tradition during road trips at Drake that the player with the worst score had to fill the car with petrol and wash the windows. "Zach had to do it his share of the time, " remembered one of his teammates, Ben Poehling, who was at Augusta last weekend to witness Johnson's surprise victory. "It's safe to assume he won't be scraping off mosquitoes any more."

In fact, Johnson was so busy earlier in the week with a round of media commitments that he missed a call of congratulations from Iowa governer, Chet Culver.

He pitched up for the Verizon Heritage at Hilton Head, but the chances of him becoming the first player since Bernhard Langer in 1985 to win the week after donning the green jacket appear to be slim to none.

GARY PLAYS WITH ERNIE'S CONFIDENCE During one of his practice rounds before the Masters in the company of Gary Player, Ernie Els mentioned that he wasn't the only one who thought he was hitting the ball really well.

"Coming up to the 17th green, " revealed Els, "Gary said I was playing the best golf he'd ever seen me play. He felt it was my best-ever chance to win this thing."

But, as it turned out, Player was wrong. Following a run of strong finishes at Augusta including two second places, Els was 47th in 2005, 27th last year, and, as we know, he missed the cut this time.

In fact, his 76 on Friday for a 10-over-par total was only one stroke better than 71-year-old Player's second-round effort.

LEVY MAY HAVE FINALLY BROKEN FOR POOR SEVE While Seve Ballesteros turned 50 last Monday and is now eligible to play on the seniors tours in Europe and the States, serious doubts remain over the once great Spaniard's ability to compete.

Admittedly, Augusta was playing as hard as it has ever done, but Ballesteros's two Masters rounds of 86 and 80 left him dead last in the field.