Bilder » Wednesday night after blowing a 27-point lead.

TROON, Scotland -- Zach Johnson faced the inevitable rite that goes with being a British Open champion.After 51 weeks in possession of the claret jug, it was time to let it go Monday.Not pleasant, he said, managing a weak smile.Now, Johnson wants to get it back.After winning a three-man playoff at St. Andrews last summer, the 40-year-old American arrived at Royal Troon looking for any motivational edge he could find.His sports psychologist, Morris Pickens, suggested that Johnson focus on the painful ritual of returning the cherished silver prize to the Royal & Ancient. If it was tough giving up the jug, imagine how sweet it would be to claim it for another year.Use it as a positive, find motivation there, find it as an opportunity, the golfer said.Johnson hasnt won a tournament since his triumph at the birthplace of golf, but he has hardly dropped off the map. The two-time major champion reached the Tour Championship last fall, led the triumphant U.S. team at the Presidents Cup, and has five top-10 finishes in 2016.He certainly has plenty of passion for the sports oldest major championship.My love for it was immense and immediate, Johnson said. Its my favorite to play. I mean, I just appreciate it. I love it. I think Ive embraced it. You have to. I mean, the conditions are what they are.Players got an idea of the challenge theyre likely to face during Mondays practice round. A stiff breeze whipped across the seaside course in western Scotland. Dark, gray clouds lingered overhead, doling out an occasional smattering of showers just to make things a bit more unpleasant.Bring it on, said Johnson.Growing up in Iowa, he learned to play in conditions that werent always pristine. And given his diminutive stature -- hes generously listed at 5-foot-11 and 164 pounds -- hes never been one of those guys who can simply overpower a course with his booming shots. Hed rather rely on a wide variety of shots, get a chance to show off his entire repertoire.A mudder, he said. Im not saying it defines me, but I think I fall into that category. I mud it out, yeah. Thats all I know. Maybe its where I grew up, in the sense that the weathers not always terrific in Iowa.Indeed, his first major title came in bitterly cold conditions at the 2007 Masters.Maybe, Johnson went on, its something thats just innately in me. I enjoy and love embracing difficult, challenging conditions. Its just something that I consider part of my talent, if that makes sense.Before leaving his home on Georgias St. Simons Island, Johnson, his wife Kim and their three young children all posed with the claret jug one last time, each of them showing off their best pouty faces on Twitter.That said, Johnson sure got the most out of his limited time with the trophy. One of his favorites was a ceremony on the 50-yard line at Kinnick Stadium, home of the University of Iowa football team. He showed it off plenty in his hometown of Cedar Rapids, both at the foundation that bears his name and the club where he grew up learning the game. Other stops are marked by stickers plastered on the outside of the jugs protective case, including Old Rip Van Winkle, a bourbon distillery in Kentucky, and Fox Bros., a famed barbecue joint in Atlanta.Just seeing family and friends and sponsors and fans of golf embrace it has been pretty awesome, he said. The thing has a lot of weight to it, in the sense that it represents golf and sports as far as Im concerned.Once he arrived in Scotland, Johnson spent one more night enjoying the jug with several of his best friends.We had a glass of wine out of it, he said, before correcting himself. Well, we didnt have a glass of wine, we had wine out of it. It is a claret decanter, so it serves its purpose in that regard.Hed like to get a bit more use out of it, thats for sure.---Follow Paul Newberry on Twitter at www.twitter.com/pnewberry1963 . His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/paul-newberry . Cheap Nike Basketball Shoes From China . Aside from the trilogy main event title fight, there are a number of intriguing matchups in the heavyweight, welterweight and lightweight divisions. Clearance Nike Shoes . 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RIO DE JANEIRO -- Missy Franklin finally got in the pool at the Rio Olympics only to endure another disappointment in the most unsettling year of her career.The usually bubbly American swimmer who emerged a darling of the 2012 London Games with five medals failed to make the 200-meter freestyle final. Franklin finished last in her semifinal heat Monday night with only the 13th-fastest time among 16 swimmers.Her voice shaky and tears welling in her eyes, Franklin struggled to comprehend what had happened.Just trying to hold it together, she said.Her time of 1 minute, 57.56 seconds was actually slower than what she swam in the preliminaries earlier in the day.Its so hard knowing all the work that you put in every day and then to get here and to be so far behind where you feel like you can be, she said. But Im not there and I gave it my best. Just disappointed that I let the team down.Four years ago, Franklin finished fourth in the 200 free, one of seven Olympic events on her jam-packed schedule. Now, 19-year-old teammate Katie Ledecky is the U.S. freestyle star. Franklin, with a lighter schedule, is out of the spotlight, and waited three days for her first race.Franklin just hopes she gets the chance to be partt of the 4x200 free relay.dddddddddddd She led off the relay in London, launching the U.S. to victory.That would mean the world to me, she said.After her big splash in London, Missy the Missile chose to swim at California for two years, spurning lucrative endorsement deals to be part of a collegiate team. Last summer, Franklin moved back to Colorado to be close to her parents and reunite with her longtime club coach Todd Schmitz.Shes endured a mystifying loss of form since turning pro a year ago, struggling just to qualify for two individual events and a relay at the U.S. trials.Thats the hardest part is I wish I could understand and I wish I could fix it, she said. But thats kind of how my year has gone. I feel like Ive worked as hard as I ever have and it just hasnt been there.Still on her schedule in Rio is the 200 backstroke, where she is the defending champion. She failed to qualify for the 100 back at the U.S. trials and didnt defend her gold from London.Its incredibly frustrating, she said. I need to keep my head up and I need to keep fighting, and thats what Im going to do. ' ' '