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SAN DIEGO — Once the fog finally lifted over Torrey Pines, a familiar figure in the U.S. Open was plain to see. RELATED: Leaderboard | Matthew Wolff rides rollercoaster on return to golf at U.S. Open A long Thursday ended in darkness with Russell Henley in the lead and Louis Oosthuizen poised to join him when the fog-delayed opening round wrapped up Friday morning. There were a few surprises, typical of the start at most majors. And there was Brooks Koepka. In the U.S. Open, there is always Brooks Koepka. “Not the best,” he said. “But I’ll definitely take it.” With a simple plan and solid execution for most any U.S. Open course, Koepka shot 2-under 69 to extend his incredible record. It was his sixth consecutive round in the 60s at the major with a reputation for being golf’s toughest test. Dating to final round at Oakmont, 11 of his last 14 rounds have been in the 60s in the U.S. Open. “I’ve just got a good game plan, focused, I know what I’m doing, and I don’t try to do anything I can’t,” Koepka said. “It’s just all about discipline in a U.S. Open. That’s I guess the gist of it.” Oosthuizen was among 36 players who failed to finish because of the 90-minute fog delay at the start. They were to resume Friday morning and then head right into their second rounds. Henley’s first visit in seven years to the rough-and-tumble South course at Torrey Pines went a lot better than the last time, especially under the circumstances. Anything around par never hurts in a U.S. Open, and his 4-under 67 was 12 shots better than his one-and-done appearance in the PGA TOUR stop. Oosthuizen, a runner-up at the PGA Championship last month at Kiawah Island, was at 4 under and had two holes remaining. The course was as tough as advertised. The wind was a little more than expected, and it doesn’t take much to add to the challenge. “If it’s blowing like this the whole week, it’s just going to be a hard week. That’s kind of what you want in a U.S. Open, though, right?” Henley said. Henley got up-and-down by holing a 6-foot birdie putt on the par-5 18th hole for a one-shot lead over Francesco Molinari and Rafa Cabrera Bello among those who finished. Koepka, with two wins and a silver medal in his last three U.S. Opens, was joined at 69 by the likes of Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama, Jon Rahm, San Diego native Xander Schauffele and Hayden Buckley, who plays the Korn Ferry Tour and made his major championship debut. “Any time in a U.S. Open you’re under par it’s a great start and today was just that,” Rahm said. Sebastian Munoz also was 2 under and had four holes remaining. The difference between Torrey Pines for a PGA TOUR stop in January and Torrey for the toughest test in golf? Henley couldn’t say. He has only played the Farmers Insurance Open one time, in 2014, and it was memorable for the wrong reasons. He holed a 40-foot shot on the 18th hole for birdie to break 80. That’s about all he remembers except for “leaving the course feeling like I just got beat up.” There was plenty of bruising going on Thursday in the U.S. Open. Former U.S. Open champion Webb Simpson had to birdie the last hole to break 80. Jordan Spieth opened with a 77 — he now is 25-over par in his last four U.S. Open rounds. Max Homa four-putted from 20 feet for triple bogey on No. 12 and three-putted for double bogey on No. 14 on his way to a 76. Defending champion Bryson DeChambeau pounded driver and did plenty of gouging from the rough, though Torrey Pines doesn’t seem quite as suitable for the style he so beautifully executed at Winged Foot last September in a six-shot victory. DeChambeau had to play the final five holes in 2 under to salvage a 73. PGA champion Phil Mickelson, who turned 51 on Wednesday, shot a 75 on Thursday. That’s not the start he hoped for in his bid to finally get a U.S. Open title for the career Grand Slam. What bothered him were two soft bogeys toward the end of his round. “Look, it’s part of this tournament, and I was able to go without any doubles. I just didn’t make enough birdies to offset it,” Mickelson said. Rory McIlroy birdied his final hole in near darkness for a 70, a good sign for a player who has fallen behind too far in too many first rounds at majors. Dustin Johnson had a 71 with one birdie and one bogey, nothing dynamic but suitable for a U.S. Open. Koepka has beaten 464 or the 465 players he has faced in the last three U.S. Opens he played. He sat out Winged Foot last year with injuries to his left knee and hip. For so much of the day, Koepka made it look easy by keeping it in the short grass, off the tee and on the green. He was bogey-free and 4 under through 11 holes when he missed the green on the par-3 third and made bogey, and he dropped another shot from on the sixth, which has been converted to a par 4 for the U.S. Open. Even so, it was a solid start for Koepka, a four-time major champion coming off a runner-up finish to Mickelson at the PGA Championship. It wasn’t easy. He made it sound that way. “It’s pretty simple. It’s a lot simpler than what guys make it,” Koepka said. “I think a lot of guys make it more difficult than it needs to be. Just got to understand where the flag is, what you’re doing and where to miss it.” The surprise might have been Molinari, the former Open Championship winner who has not been the same since losing a two-shot lead on the back nine at the Masters two years ago that paved the way for Tiger Woods slipping on another green jacket. The Italian had to pull out of the PGA Championship with a sore back. He mentioned other nagging injuries. He’s had three top 10s this year. He also has missed the cut in three of the last four tournaments he played. But he was solid at Torrey, and two birdies over his last three allowed him to match his best start in a U.S. Open. “There’s no tricks. You need to grind and fight for 18 holes and then relax until tomorrow and start over again,” he said. “I haven’t played recently, so it’s nice to get off to a good start, but there’s a long way to go. Start over tomorrow like nothing happened today.”

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SOUTHPORT, England – Notes and observations from the final round of The Open Championship, where Jordan Spieth played the final five holes in 5 under to shoot 69 and win by three shots over Matt Kuchar. Spieth’s third victory of the season also gives him the lead in the FedExCup standings. ‘A GOOD START’ Jordan Spieth needed inspiration as he struggled through Sunday’s front nine at Royal Birkdale. He started the day with a three-shot advantage, but it took just four holes for that lead to evaporate. Spieth was two ahead by the seventh tee, but his ballstriking wasn’t up to the standard he’d displayed earlier in the week. That’s why his caddie, Michael Greller, decided to deliver a pep talk to his boss, using a photo from Spieth’s recent vacation to Mexico as motivation. The photo showed the golfer hanging out with a group that included Michael Phelps and Michael Jordan. “He said, ‘Do you remember that group you were with? You’re that caliber of an athlete. But I need you to believe that right now. … This is a new tournament. We’re starting over here,â€� Spieth said. Spieth was among select company in Cabo San Lucas, and now he has the opportunity to join another elite group. Spieth, 23, now owns three legs of the career Grand Slam, needing a victory in the PGA Championship to become just the sixth player to win all four of golf’s major championships. The other five? Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Ben Hogan, Gary Player and Gene Sarazen. Nicklaus is the only player besides Spieth to win three different majors before the age of 24. (Spieth turns 24 on Thursday). “Growing up playing golf, I just wanted to be able to play in major championships and compete with the best in the world. Things have happened very quickly,â€� Spieth said. The PGA Championship will be held Aug. 10-13 at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina. The course also serves as the annual host of the PGA TOUR’s Wells Fargo Championship. Spieth has played that event just once, finishing T32 in 2013. Spieth was runner-up to Jason Day in the 2015 PGA, finishing three shots behind the Australian. Woods was 24 when he completed the career Grand Slam at the 2000 Open Championship, the youngest player ever to do so, but Spieth could surpass that record with a win at Quail Hollow. “To be in that company is absolutely incredible, and I certainly appreciate it,â€� Spieth said. “We work really hard to have that, … therefore I enjoy moments like (this). But I’m very careful as to what that means going forward because what those guys have done has transcended the sport. And in no way, shape or form do I think I’m anywhere near that, whatsoever. “So it’s a good start, but there is a long way to go.â€� KUCHAR CRUSHED Matt Kuchar is known for his wide smile, but he couldn’t hide his disappointment after his best shot to win a major championship was thwarted by Spieth’s magical finish. “It’s crushing. It hurts,â€� said Kuchar, whose final-round 69 matched Spieth’s Sunday score. Spieth started the day with a three-shot advantage, but Kuchar took a one-shot lead after Spieth’s bogey at No. 13. Kuchar made two birdies on the next four holes, but lost three strokes to Spieth over that stretch. “It’s an excitement and a thrill to have played well, put up a battle, put up a fight,â€� Kuchar said. “You work so hard to get in this position, to have a chance to make history and win a championship. You don’t get that many opportunities.â€� The runner-up was Kuchar’s best major finish, besting his third-place finish at the 2012 Masters. He was fourth at Augusta National this year, his fourth top-10 in the past six Masters. Kuchar’s wife, Sybi, and their two sons, Cameron and Carson, flew to England to watch Matt compete in Sunday’s final group, surprising him after the round. “I played well. I had four good rounds of golf. I was close,â€� Kuchar, 39, said. “I think everybody around me is doing the best to put the most positive spin on this week as possible.â€� LI’S HISTORIC 63 Haotong Li started Sunday 12 shots off the lead. He was warming up for a potential playoff after his round, though. Li shot 63 to finish at 6-under 204. As the final group struggled, Li had a slimmer of hope. Kuchar was 8 under par, and Spieth was one behind, with five holes remaining in the tournament. Until yesterday, 63 was the gold standard for major-championships. Branden Grace shot 62 on Saturday, though. Li, 21, still finished third, securing the highest major finish by a Chinese man. “For some reason since hole No. 8, I just start holing everything,â€� said Li, who made birdie on seven of the final 11 holes. He won PGA TOUR China’s Order of Merit in 2014 and claimed the 2016 China Open. Li, No. 107 in the Official World Golf Ranking, will make a large move in the International Team’s Presidents Cup standings. He started the week ranked 26th. His third-place finish also is expected to earn him an invitation into next ERRATIC RORY Rory McIlroy’s erratic week began with five bogeys on his first six holes and an exhortation from his caddie that included an expletive for emphasis. It ended in a tie for fourth. The week was full of fits and spurts, but the miscues too often dampened the momentum, leaving McIlroy seven shots behind Spieth. It was McIlroy’s first top-10 in just six starts since finishing T7 at Augusta National in April. He arrived at Royal Birkdale having missed the cut in three of his past four starts. McIlroy will make his next start at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational in two weeks. It’s his first appearance in Akron since his 2014 victory there. Then it’s on to the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow, where Spieth has won twice, set the course record twice and has finished in the top 10 in six of seven starts. “I wish I could have had that start back, obviously, but these things happen and I’m just proud of how I held it together and battled,â€� McIlroy said. “But I feel like with the way my game is I’ll definitely have a great chance at Akron and the PGA.â€� NOTABLE NOTES Marc Leishman shot 66-65 on the weekend to finish sixth at 4-under 276. It was his third top-six in the past four Open Championships, including his runner-up in 2015, where he lost a three-man playoff won by Zach Johnson. Leishman cracked the top 10 despite making the cut on the number after a second-round 76. U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka also tied for sixth at 276 (65-72-68-71). Koepka has finished no worse than T11 in 2017’s three majors, and has finished in the top 25 in nine consecutive majors. One day after shooting the lowest round in major-championship history, Grace shot 70 to also finish sixth at 276 (70-74-62-70). His 62 was his only sub-par round of the week. Grace made eight birdies Saturday and just six in the other three rounds. He had two birdies and two bogeys in the final round. This was Grace’s fifth top-six in his past 11 majors. Local favorite Tommy Fleetwood, who grew up within walking distance of Royal Birkdale, finished T27 at 1 over par. He followed a first-round 76 with three consecutive rounds of par or better (69-66-70). “After the first day, you know, I’d have taken anything to be playing on Sunday,â€� said Fleetwood, who was runner-up at this year’s World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship and fourth at the U.S. Open. “It’s easy to be frustrated because you wanted to do so well, but to complain would be a bit off.â€� BEST OF SOCIAL MEDIA

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Justin Thomas has not been shy about how he feels about his 2021 season. Aside from a win at The Players, it wasn’t what he wanted. Now, he’s ready for a breakout year. Plus, Greg Norman’s venture needs players, a name you should remember and more.

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