Zach Johnson has admitted his return to Scotland to contest The 145th Open Championship at Royal Troon this week was a bittersweet moment.
Johnson won his second Major Championship at St Andrews last year, defeating Louis Oosthuizen and Marc Leishman in a play-off in just the second Monday finish in Open Championship history.
The 40 year old American made the most of his time with the famous Claret Jug, including placing it in the middle of his home state's university football field in Iowa, but handed it back to R&A Chief Executive Martin Slumbers upon his arrival this year.
“It was bittersweet, but you know it's coming,” said Johnson.
“I guess a portion of that sweetness is you still have an opportunity to get it back yourself. As my sports psychologist and I have been talking about, it's not like I've got a one or two-shot lead when I tee it up on Thursday.
"I've got to get the Claret Jug back. Last year was last year and now we're moving on and shifting on mentally.”
Johnson carded rounds of 66-71-70-66 on his way to winning at St Andrews and said the impact of winning his second Major Championship resonated strongly with those around him.
"Just seeing family and friends and sponsors and fans of golf embrace it has been pretty awesome.
“That thing has a lot of weight to it in the sense that it represents golf and sports. It's just so much fun having the ability to have that Claret Jug for a portion of your life."
Elsewhere, Jason Day arrives in Scotland on a mission to make up for the near miss he experienced at this championship last year.
The Australian finished one shot outside of the three-man play-off eventually won by Johnson and said he was able to use that experience to finish the year with the US PGA Championship, his first Major title.
"It was the start of the run where everything kind of changed my world,” said the 28 year old.
"Coming so close last year was definitely a motivational factor. I would love to one day hold the Claret Jug and be able to put my name down in history with the best that have ever lived and played the game," he added.
Day will tee off at 0925 on Thursday alongside Danny Willett and Rickie Fowler, where he hopes his positive mentality will allow him to secure his second Major.
"At the end of the day, I'm just trying to get as good as I can and the only way to do that is to learn from failure, and the way you look at it is not in a negative way.”
“You have to look at it in a positive light that, okay, I did this for a reason. I've got to try to get better and move on. If I can do that, then you can't do anything but go up.”
