Spieth, Johnson paired in Ohio

Jordan Spieth signs autographs Wednesday at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio. The downhill putt went 4 feet by, and he missed the birdie putt to finish one shot behind Jordan Spieth. With the fall in Woods’ form and the absence of Rory McElroy during last month’s British Open, Spieth had the spotlight with the Under Armour brand in full display even when he was out of contention.

A Claret Jug sippy cup might have captured the joy and enthusiasm surrounding Zach Johnson’s July 20 British Open victory at St. Andrews. But winning there? It’s taken time for Johnson to get his arms around that.

File picture of US golfer Zach Johnson posing with the Claret Jug.

“We’ve had wine in there”.

“I’m not sentimental. My foundation chairman, we’re getting ready to move next year, I said, ‘You bring a U-Haul down here, you can have just about everything.’ Those are the kinds of things I’m going to cherish _ the pictures, the letters and some mementos along the way that my wife and I are keeping”.

Turns out the corn actually hadn’t been grilled yet, and Johnson was only pretending to eat it. But it was a classic Iowa photo op.

Corn on the cob? He figured it was only fitting since Johnson still sees himself as a regular guy from Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

“By playing well in the PGA, that determines whether or not I’ll play Wyndham, and obviously the rest of the FedEx Cup play-offs”, he said. “I don’t really have words to describe it. It just means that what I’m doing is pretty good“.

“I’m telling you, the Iowa folk, the Midwest folk in general, thought it was pretty awesome”.

PGA of America championship director Kerry Haigh confirmed in an email Thursday evening that the spot where Johnson grounded his club will not be in play this year. He turned 22 last week.

“I need to be old, and I might have to have grandchildren, before the hall of fame enters my mind”, said Johnson, 39, and a father of three. They spent time together late in 2013 during Spieth’s rookie season and have a few friends in the same circle that keep them connected.

“It just stings because the history element was there of winning an Open at St. Andrews, but also our team did everything to put ourselves in position in yet another major, and then it was just my execution that wasn’t there, ” Spieth said.

He had a good read on the clutch putt, with an assist from his caddy.

The Bridgestone Invitational will be missing its defending champion for the first time since 2008 when Tiger Woods was recuperating from knee surgery. He was penalized two shots after the round, turning his 71 into a 73 and costing him a spot in the playoff won by Martin Kaymer. For him, he never had to think about it because he was No. 1 for so long, it was just part of his schedule.

“I wanted to be on my best as early as I could, and that’s why I changed to only taking a couple of days off and working a little bit harder leading up to this”.