It’s 6:45 Thursday morning, and golfer Webb Simpson is rolling two gray garbage cans back from the street to park them beside his south Charlotte home until they’re rolled out again next week.

Simpson figured it wasn’t a recycling week since none of the neighbors had rolled out their green containers, saving him an extra trip to the curb.

“Sometimes I think some people put the recycling out there just to fake people out,” Simpson says.

If anyone had the silly notion that winning the U.S. Open two weeks ago at the Olympic Club in San Francisco might change the 26-year-old Simpson, the idea should be gone with last week’s trash.

Simpson politely declined a request to appear on “The Tonight Show” with Jay Leno the Monday night after his victory, preferring to fly home overnight with his wife, Dowd, so he could spend one day at home with their 1-year-old son, James, before leaving to honor an earlier commitment to play The Travelers Championship in Hartford, Conn.

On the ride to the San Francisco airport after his victory, the Simpsons stopped for cheeseburgers at Wendy’s. He ordered inside, and while waiting for the food, Simpson heard guys who had obviously been at the U.S. Open debating whether the U.S. Open champion had just walked into the restaurant.

Amused at the conversation, Simpson settled it by introducing himself, then posing for a photo with the group. It was better than having his trophy presentation disrupted by a man making bird sounds .

Speaking of the trophy, it’s been sitting on the counter in Simpson’s bathroom since it came home with him.

“I can see it when I’m brushing my teeth in the morning,” Simpson says.

The plan is to eventually move the trophy to a different spot in the house . Meantime, last Thursday, Simpson took the two-handled trophy with him to Greensboro , where he’s heading for a pre-tournament media day appearance for August’s Wyndham Championship, where he won his first PGA Tour event last year.

The tournament sent a car for Simpson and his agent, Thomas Parker, and, after putting the garbage cans away, Simpson loads the trophy into the back and settles in for the ride. Simpson wears white slacks, a green shirt, a white cap, dark loafers and no socks. He dressed down after wearing a gray suit and tie for a media appearance at Quail Hollow Club two days earlier.

“I don’t need a jacket, do I?” Simpson asks Parker.

No, you’re fine, Parker tells him.

Same old Simpson

The magnitude of Simpson’s victory has begun to sink in with the number of congratulatory comments, calls and messages he’s received. He anticipated the sponsor and media commitments that came with winning but not the overwhelming reaction from people.

When he walked his son James through Southpark Mall after the win, he noticed a group of teenaged girls looking at him. A mother in the group recognized him and told him, “Nice job.”

When Simpson ducked into the Ralph Lauren store (he wears their clothes on tour), the girls followed him in and asked for autographs, though he says they seemed more interested in his son.

“One thing I’m passionate about is I don’t want it to change me as a person or as a golfer,” Simpson says. “Last week (at The Travelers Championship), I found myself trying to play up to being a major champion. That’s something I don’t do. I can’t put this big umbrella of expectations around myself. My dad (Sam) told me the night I won that I don’t have anything else to prove.”

After his victory, Simpson received a phone call from Greg Norman, texts from Phil Mickelson and Tom Lehman and an email from Tom Watson, among other notables from the world of golf.

The message from Watson resonated. He plans to print out the email and frame it.

“It was the perfect mix of kindness and encouragement and giving me great advice for the future,” Simpson says. “It would have been nice enough if he’d just said congratulations, but he took his time and wrote me a well thought-out email. He said that the next time I stand on the first tee, I won’t have a two-shot advantage over everyone else just because I’m a major winner. Keep working hard.”

A perk of winning the U.S. Open is an invitation to throw out the first pitch at a New York Yankees game later this month. He already knows what not to do - “Don’t bounce it in there and don’t throw it from in front of the pitcher’s mound,” Simpson says. He doesn’t intend to do either.

As the car approaches Greensboro, Simpson signs a personal message on a commemorative U.S. Open flag for Bobby Long, a Greensboro business leader, a driving force behind the Wyndham Championship and a longtime family friend. He also brings him a special putter with Long’s name stamped in the back.

At Sedgefield Country Club, Simpson hurries out of the car and does a live shot on The Golf Channel, then smiles through a series of introductions and interviews. He hits the ceremonial first putt on Sedgefield’s new bermuda grass greens, then returns inside to be introduced by Long to a gathered group.

Long tells the story of playing golf with his son, Sam and Webb Simpson at Landfall near Wilmington through the years. Long believes he was in the group when Simpson, a Raleigh native, played his first full round of golf almost 20 years ago.

Many times, Long said he told his son, Robert, he should grow up to be like Webb Simpson. Long says he still reminds his son to follow Simpson’s lead.

“I have a number of friends who have achieved remarkable success and the best ones have been unaffected by it,” Long says. “(Webb) has that.

“He’s that special guy, and he’s been that way his whole life. He has every reason to be cocky, and he’s never been that way. My dad told me the measure of a man is how they treat a defenseless person, someone who can’t help them in any way. Webb is so nice to everyone, regardless of who they are. That’s what greatness is.”

Family and Faith

After the interviews are complete, Simpson and Parker settle back into the black Cadillac Escalade for the ride back to Charlotte. Simpson calls his wife, asks how her day is going and tells her he’ll be back by 2 p.m.

Almost eight months pregnant, Dowd walked all 72 hilly holes watching her husband at the U.S. Open . He searches her out in galleries and shares smiles while he’s playing.

Waiting to hit a four-foot putt on the 18th green Sunday afternoon at the U.S. Open, knowing it might be for the championship, Simpson was as nervous as he can ever remember being. On the back nine, he’d kept touching his legs because he couldn’t feel them.

His faith, he said, gave him an inner peace but didn’t keep the nerves away. Preparing to hit the biggest putt of his life, Simpson thought about his son, James, back in Charlotte and how much he wanted to play with him.

“It was the only thing I could think of to keep my mind off the fact it might be a putt to win,” he says.

Is Simpson as good as advertised or has he ever gotten in trouble?

He tells a story of being in an advanced placement English class in high school in Raleigh when he bet a classmate he could climb out a window during a movie and get back in the classroom before the teacher noticed. He slipped out the window, walked around the building, then walked back into class through the door. The teacher assumed he’d been in the bathroom.

“I won my bet,” Simpson says.

It’s not about the money

Sitting in the back seat Thursday, Simpson has the U.S. Open trophy on the floor between his feet. He goes over scheduling options with his manager for the remainder of the year, talks about what he will and won’t do and signs more U.S. Open flags for people and groups he holds close.

He’s considering a fall trip to China, an invitation that came with winning the U.S. Open. It’s the only big thing he’s considering adding as a direct result of his victory. He’s not planning to turn the win into a money grab.

Simpson received some gentle criticism for his quick decision to skip the British Open later this month because he doesn’t want to be overseas in case his wife goes into labor early with their second child. Originally her due date was Aug. 3, but it’s been moved up a few days, reinforcing Simpson’s decision to stay here. After playing the Greenbrier Classic next week in West Virginia, he’ll be home for three weeks.

“The British Open will always be there,” Simpson says. “This may be the last child we have. It’s a decision I haven’t thought twice about.”

On the northern edge of Charlotte, Simpson and Parker stop for lunch at Chick-Fil-A. As he orders his grilled chicken sandwich, no one seems to recognize the U.S. Open champion. The trophy and his cap are in the car. He’s another young guy grabbing lunch, and he doesn’t seem to notice that no one notices him.

When the Escalade returns Simpson to his driveway, the garbage cans are tucked away where he left them. He has a couple of errands to run before a short workout and maybe some practice.

When he’s done, he’ll meet Dowd and James at the pool for a swim and then a casual dinner at Quail Hollow Club, just a mile from his house.

“It’s OK to wear shorts, isn’t it?” Simpson asks Parker.

“In the grillroom, yes,” Parker says.

“Great,” Simpson says.

A low-key night with his family, just what Simpson wants.

He walks inside through his garage. He carries the U.S. Open trophy with him.