McKINNEY, Texas (AP) — Jason Day was something of an oh-by-the-way winner of the Byron Nelson 14 years ago when Jordan Spieth generated plenty of headlines as the local teenager contending on the weekend.

Now Day is the defending champion, thanks to a victory perhaps just as important as that first one on the PGA Tour. Spieth is the highest-ranked player in a relatively weak field, still chasing an elusive win at the event now known as the CJ Cup Byron Nelson.

The fellow major champions are in the same group for the first two rounds, starting on what could be a rainy Thursday at TPC Craig Ranch, about 30 miles north of Spieth’s hometown of Dallas.

“I’m excited about that,” Day said, “because it reminds me of old-school times playing in ’14, ’15, ’16 against him when he was No. 1 in the world and (it) was really tough to beat that guy.”