The Open: Zach Johnson got a kick out of his time with Claret Jug

Defending champion Zach Johnson during the Open practice day at Royal Troon on Monday (Picture: Danny Lawson/PA Wire).

Johnson won his second major title at St Andrews last year, defeating Louis Oosthuizen and Marc Leishman in a play-off in just the second Monday finish in championship history.

The 40-year-old American made the most of his time with the Claret Jug, famously posting pictures of himself using it to hold an ear of corn from his native Iowa, but had to hand it back to R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers on his arrival at Royal Troon on Monday.

“It was bitter-sweet,” Johnson said. “More sweet (than bitter), but the fact that you’ve got to give it back, you know it’s coming. 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 and certainly excited for the week.”

Asked to detail some of the strangest places the Claret Jug had been over the last 12 months, Johnson added: “It’s been on the football field of Kinnick Stadium (at the University of Iowa) in my home state. That’s on the 50-yard line. That’s probably not normal.

“My guess is, unless I’m lucky enough to do it again, it probably won’t ever happen certainly in my lifetime.

“It was at my alma mater. It’s been in my home town a bunch with my foundation, at the club I grew up at. Certainly my entire team has had it, meaning my coaches at their clinics, their academies. When I say they’ve had it, it wasn’t for a day. It was like they had it for two weeks to four weeks.

“So I’ve got to be honest, I probably had the thing for three months, but I’ve probably been around it for a lot longer than that because I’ve been with it as far as where it’s been.

“Just seeing family and friends and sponsors and fans of golf embrace it has been pretty awesome. That thing has a lot of, well, weight to it in the sense that it represents golf and sports, as far as I’m concerned. It’s just so much fun having the ability to have that Claret Jug for a portion of your life.”