Journeyman 32-year-old pro Zach Johnson (pictured above) became the first player to earn a spot in this year's PGA Grand Slam of Golf to be hosted in Bermuda after pulling off a two-stroke victory over Tiger Woods at the Masters yesterday.

Johnson, an American who only has one other PGA Tour title to his name in a nine-year career which has garnered over seven million dollars in prize money, produced a final round 69 to finish perhaps the toughest tournament in Masters' history at one-over par — two ahead of the struggling world number one.

Before yesterday, Johnson's best finish in a major had come at the 2005 PGA Championships when he tied for 15th, and the 2006 Ryder Cup rookie had missed the cut in his last three majors.

His only PGA Tour victory came at the BellSouth Classic in 2004.

While human nature almost invariably dictates sympathy for the underdog, Premier Ewart Brown and the executive committee at the Mid Ocean Club could have been forgiven yesterday if they were cheering on the overwhelming favourite.

Woods' presence at the Grand Slam is viewed as crucial by the organisers if the $1.25 million event is to be a public relations and marketing hit for the Island's tourism product.

When he announced late last year that Bermuda had secured the two-day, made-for-television strokeplay tournament involving the four major winners from each year, Brown's main theme was that arguably the greatest player the game had ever seen could be gracing our shores between October 16-17.

His place at this year's Grand Slam of Golf would have been the furthest thing from Woods' mind yesterday afternoon at Augusta, however, as he continued to struggle off the tee and squandered at least three opportunities in the final round to eradicate Johnson's narrow lead.

The Grand Slam's organisers will now be hoping that Woods can rediscover the magic touch in order to claim one of the year's three remaining majors — the US Open, the British Open and the PGA Championship.