Johnson, 17, ready to tee it up with Nationwide pros

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Seventeen-year-old Michael Johnson looked very much at home as he hit balls on the driving range at TPC Sawgrass Monday afternoon -- just as he did only six short weeks ago when he led wire to wire to win the Junior Players Championship here on the TPC Stadium Course.

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The tournament victory earned the promising teenager from Birmingham, Alabama a trip back to the TPC as a sponsor exempt entry in this week's Nationwide Tour Winn-Dixie Jacksonville Open at Dye's Valley Course.

Last month at the Junior Players, Johnson, a senior at Spain Park High School, was an alternate and the last player accepted into the field. He responded by carding rounds of 68, 72, and 72 to defeat highly-regarded junior golfers Jordan Spieth and Emiliano Grillo.

This week, when asked to participate in his first Junior clinic with pros on Monday, Johnson was so excited that he was the first player to show up and one of the last to leave. There was a glow in his eyes much like the kids that were watching him. He compared it to a moment he had not so many years ago as a youth when he took pointers from Chi Chi Rodriguez in a similar instructional clinic.

The youthful-looking teen could easily be mistaken for one of the juniors in the clinic, but that notion was put to rest when he pulled a driver and hit his first shot straight down the middle as Nationwide Tour pros respectfully looked on.

"It means a lot," said Johnson, "and it's been an incredible journey. It's going to be a very interesting experience. You don't get to play with pros a lot at my age and I'm looking forward to that."

This week, Johnson finds himself playing with professionals more than twice his age, including veteran PGA TOUR pro 49-year-old Steve Pate, who turned professional in 1983 -- 10 years before Johnson was born. The teenager welcomes the opportunity, even though the field was composed of junior golfers ranging in age from 12 to 18 in his last competition at Sawgrass

"I'm not nervous at all right now," he said. "I just want to play as good as I can. Obviously, I want to always try to win, but when you don't you want to just play well."

As he positioned another ball on the range, he glanced at the country flags blowing with the autumn winds at the TPC and he sized up the course with a true professional's assessment. "This was only my second round ever on Dye's Valley," said Johnson. "And it's in awesome shape. It's a great layout, but you have to hit fairways to do well on this course. It's that simple. Hit fairways!"

Pros in the field have embraced him with nothing but support -- especially local resident and 2005 Players champion Fred Funk and his wife Sharon.

"They came to me after I won the Junior Players and asked if I needed a place to stay this week," Johnson said. "They are an awesome family. I am very comfortable."

While Johnson is humbled and excited about the opportunity, he would prefer to be playing with his older brother Bradley, a promising junior golfer four years older than Michael who died tragically in a 2006 automobile accident.

The younger Johnson still struggles to find words to discuss his brother, offering, "He was a very good player. I try not to compare myself to him. I let other people do that."

In his brother's memory, during the Junior Players, Michael wore a old yellow wristband with the name "BRADLEY" inscribed on it.

He never thought he'd realize the same dream that his brother had of one day having an opportunity to play on the PGA TOUR so soon. The brothers talked about the opportunity often, and while Bradley chased his dream on the juniors circuit, Michael often could be found hours after one of his brother's tournaments working on his putting and chipping.

Bradley had considered playing collegiate golf at Auburn at the time of his death, but had not made a decision yet. This past April, while still in his junior year of high school, Michael committed to Auburn.

When Johnson's dream week is over at the TPC, his life of being an American teenager returns and so do his favorite pasttimes. He'll still eat lots of cheeseburgers, watch ESPN's SportsCenter, listen to Lil' Wayne on his IPOD and continue to fashion his favorite wrist bracelet.

What about golf?

"This will probably be it for a while," said Johnson. Other priorities will take precedence like high school graduation next spring and getting ready for his freshman year at Auburn.