SAN DIEGO – The U.S. Open prides itself on being the most open of all majors with some 9,000 players from all walks of golf having a chance to compete.

Open, indeed.

The weekend at Torrey Pines features major champions and major contenders, players who are unknown or unheralded, all of them still within reach of that U.S. Open trophy. Nine shots separated first from last.

It starts with Richard Bland, a 48-year-old from England who finally won on the European Tour last month in his 478th try. Bland had a 4-under 67 and walked off Torrey Pines with his name atop the leaderboard in only his fourth major. His first one was 23 years ago.

Russell Henley had a chance to build a two-shot lead Friday afternoon when he stood over an 18-foot birdie putt on the par-5 ninth. He missed, and then watched his 2-foot par putt spin out of the cup. That gave him a 70 to join Bland 5-under 137.

They will be in the final group Saturday, with plenty of heavy hitters behind them and getting far more attention. Former British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen (71) and Matthew Wolff (68), the U.S. Open runner-up last year at Winged Foot, were one shot behind.

Another shot back were two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson (67) and Jon Rahm (70), a past winner at Torrey Pines and former world No. 1.

Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., vaulted up 53 spots into a tie for seventh at 2 under, three shots back of the leaders, with a second round of 4 under 67. Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., shot 1 over to sit at even par and is now sitting T13.

Defending champion Bryson DeChambeau and his buddy, Brooks Koepka, were at also even par, only five shots behind. They were on the same score. They will not be in the same group.

Also at even-par 142 was Justin Thomas, who had a 68.

Henley doesn’t know much about Bland except that he pays a little attention to golf worldwide and recalled hearing about his British Masters win to end his long quest for a victory.

“I’m sure he knows nothing about me, too,” said Henley, a three-time winner on the PGA Tour who has played 26 majors without a top 10.

Taylor Pendrith of Richmond Hill, Ont., (72) and Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont. (73) missed the cut.

Bland’s victory in the British Masters made him the oldest first-time winner in European Tour history. That also was the start of a three-tournament series for the leading 10 players to get into the U.S. Open. Travel restrictions from the COVID-19 pandemic eliminated the 36-hole qualifier in England.

This is only his fourth major _ twice at Royal Birkdale in 1998 and 2017, once at Bethpage Black for the U.S. Open in 2009 _ and he came in on a high note.

Oosthuizen, coming off a runner-up finish in the PGA Championship, finished with two pars in the morning to cap off a 67 to share the first-round lead with Henley. He didn’t get any lower in the second round and shot 71, but was right in the mix.

So was Wolff, a surprise only because he lost all joy playing golf after such a hot start out of Oklahoma State that he walked away from the game for two months, even missing a major at the PGA Championship. He returned to the toughest test in golf and shot 70-68, two-putting for eagle on the last hole.

“It’s awesome that I came out here and played well, but I think more importantly, I’m just getting closer to being more comfortable and being happy and enjoying it,” Wolff said. “I feel like I’ve done a very good job of enjoying it, but I’ve still got a long way to go to keep a level head. Like I said, I’ll probably be working on the same thing that I’m working on now for the rest of my career.”

Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy were headed the wrong direction. Johnson, who missed the cut in the Masters and PGA Championship, dropped to 4 over until a late rally gave him a 73 and a spot in the weekend. He was seven behind. McIlroy had to birdie two holes down the stretch for a 73. He was six behind.

The 36-hole lead at Torrey Pines in the 2008 U.S. Open was 3-under 139. The course is strong as ever with enough wind, though a marine layer has kept sunshine from baking out some of the greens. Then again, the weekend awaits.

The weekend will include Phil Mickelson, whose deft scrambling kept him inside the cut line and he finished with a birdie for a 69. He was seven shots behind in his quest to complete the career Grand Slam.

Bland will be a big part of the weekend, and that’s the charm of the U.S. Open.

“I love that about the game,” defending champion Bryson DeChambeau said after a 69 left him five shots behind. “Anybody, any age group, can play this great game and compete and contend. If you’re got the skill set to get the ball in the hole in the least amount of shots, you can be up there with the young guns.”

Bland is the classic journeyman, happy to be making a living at golf for more than two decades, disappointed to have not won until he broke through last month, not nearly surprised as most everyone else that he was tied for the U.S. Open.

SAN DIEGO (AP) – Russell Henley’s visit to the rough-and-tumble South course at Torrey Pines went a lot better Thursday than the last time he played, especially under the circumstances.

Anything around par never hurts in a U.S. Open. He opened with a 4-under 67, finishing just as the wind off the Pacific was kicking into gear.

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 early starters.

Two-time U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka, looking tough as ever in the strongest events, and San Diego native Xander Schauffele were at 69.

Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., was part of a group of 12 golfers three shots off the pace at 1 under. Hadwin finished the day with 3 birdies.

Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., and Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., shot 2 and 4 over, respectively. Taylor Pendrith of Richmond Hill, Ont., had a later tee time.

A 90-minute fog delay before the opening tee shot meant the first round had no chance of being completed until Friday morning.

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. Max Homa four-putted from 20 feet for triple bogey on No. 12 and three-putted for double bogey on No. 14. That led to a 76.

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.

Defending champion Bryson DeChambeau, world No. 1 Dustin Johnson and Jon Rahm were among those playing in the afternoon.

There were a few cheers for “Bryson” directed at Koepka as fans tried to keep their feud going, though Koepka didn’t appear to be the least bit distracted. This is a major, and he showed why he’s called “Big Game Brooks” when the biggest tournaments roll around.

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 British Open champion 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.

Henley was among three players from the early draw who reached 4 under at some point, and the only player who stayed there thanks to his birdie at the end.

Koepka played his final seven holes with two bogeys, no birdies and no complaints. Patrick Rodgers was 4 under with five holes to play until he dropped three shots coming in. That didn’t rattle him too much, either.

“I really felt like I played decently coming in, but just playing a U.S. Open, you’re sometimes a bounce away or a lip-out away from a tough hole or a tough situation,” Rodgers said. “That’s just part of this event.”

RIDGELAND, S.C. (AP) – Dustin Johnson got off to a fast start Thursday at Congaree in his home-state Palmetto Championship, shooting a 6-under 65 that left him a shot behind leader Wes Roach.

Johnson, the world’s top-ranked player and a South Carolina native, hadn’t played since missing the cut the last time he teed it up in the Palmetto State at the PGA Championship on Kiawah Island last month.

Johnson appeared he might hold a share of the lead before Roach, a 32-year-old seeking his first PGA Tour victory, rolled in a 19-footer for a go-ahead birdie on the 16th hole.

Still, Johnson had a smooth, bogey-free round in the field’s first try at the Congaree Golf Club as the replacement tournament for the canceled RBC Canadian Open, called off a second straight season due to COVID-19 concerns.

Roach, splitting time on the PGA and Korn Ferry tours this season, shot his lowest PGA Tour round since November 2019. He was a stroke in front of Johnson, Doc Redman, Chesson Hadley and South Africa’s Erik van Rooyen.

Canadians Nick Taylor and Roger Sloan both shot 4-under 67’s and are tied for seventh. Fellow Canadians David Hearn and Michael Gligic both shot 73.

Roach eagled the par-5 fourth, holing out from 105 yards on the 633-yard hole.

Johnson was headed in the wrong direction at the Ocean Course three weeks ago, missing a major cut for the second time in as many months. But if anyone doubted his readiness for next week’s U.S. Open, Johnson easily brushed that aside with his stellar play over the firm fairways and curvy greens at the 4-year-old Tom Fazio course.

At Congaree, he had four birdies in a seven-hole stretch, all on putts 10 feet or less including a two-putt birdie on the drivable, 370-yard third. Johnson chipped in from 82 feet away for his final birdie on No. 9 to tie Redman for the lead among the morning starters.

Johnson was only thinking of a par save when he hit the shot and was overjoyed – well, about as overjoyed as the cool, calm Johnson can get – when it disappeared in the cup for his lowest round since shooting 65 in the second round of the Tournament of Champions last January.

Redman was the first to reach 6 under with a run of four birdies over five holes on his back nine.

Hadley’s approach on his next-to-last hole, the eighth, was 2 feet from the cup for his tying birdie.

Van Rooyen was at 7 under through 14 holes. He made bogey on the sixth hole to fall back.

Van Rooyen followed up his successful U.S. Open qualifying in Ohio earlier this week with a strong showing at Congaree. He had missed his last four cuts including the PGA Championship. He spent the past three weeks thinking about his performance and working his game. van Rooyen like what he saw Thursday.

“I think I’m just sort of going forward,” he said.

Brooks Koepka, playing for the first time since finishing second to Phil Mickelson at the PGA Championship, opened with a 72 and was seven shots behind the leaders. Koepka is the only other top-10 player in this field, the last before the season’s third major.

Koepka’s start wasn’t a good sign: the last four times he began a tournament over-par, he went on to miss the cut.

A short time after Johnson finished, he was awarded the Order of the Palmetto from Gov. Henry McMaster on the club grounds.

Johnson said he was boosted by the strong crowd following him, not just here but at the RBC Heritage on Hilton Head and the PGA Championship this season.

“I get a lot of support here in South Carolina, being a South Carolina native,” he said. “And, yeah, it’s been great” to play so much there.

“Hopefully, I can keep it rolling for the rest of the week,” he said.

DUBLIN, Ohio (AP) – Collin Morikawa had another favorable result at Muirfield Village on a golf course that looked and sounded a lot different from when he won last year.

Morikawa felt good vibes from an old putter and posted a 6-under 66 in rain-softened conditions Thursday morning at the Memorial. That gave him a one-shot lead over Adam Long among early starters, with Xander Schauffele in the group two shots behind.

Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., shot a 4-under 68 to put him two shots back of the lead. Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., and Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford both shot a 74. Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., shot a 77.

The weather was bad enough that the first round was suspended twice, with only half the field finishing the round.

For Morikawa, the name of the tournament is different, too. He won a playoff at Muirfield Village last year in the Workday Charity Open, a one-time event to replace the pandemic-canceled John Deere Classic.

But there’s a comfort level at the course Jack Nicklaus built, no matter how much it has been renovated and reshaped. And it was noisy Thursday as the tournament has let at least 25% capacity of fans on the course.

Jon Rahm is the defending champion at the Memorial and faced a far stronger test. Nicklaus knew he was going to be redoing the fairways and greens, so he let them go for the Memorial and conditions were as tough as a U.S. Open.

Rahm did OK in the soft conditions with a 69, tied with British Open champion Shane Lowry, Justin Thomas and Rickie Fowler, who needs a runner-up finish to move into the top 60 in the world ranking and avoid U.S. Open qualifying on Monday.

Jordan Spieth, Bryson DeChambeau and Rory McIlroy didn’t make it past a couple of holes before the weather stopped everything. They were to return Friday morning to finish the first round, and then right back out for the second round.

The forecast was better for the rest of the week, and darkness doesn’t set in until about 9 p.m.

What made Schauffele’s round interesting is that he used the controversial arm-lock method to putt. It’s a putter he’s only had for about a week. He’s among the best statistically putting. And he things the putting style should be banned.

It’s the method used by DeChambeau, Matt Kuchar and Will Zalatoris, among others. Most players believe it is no different from anchoring the long putter against the sternum, a style the R&A and USGA outlawed.

But if the rules makers are allowing it, Schauffele figures he might as well do the same.

Kuchar, meanwhile, withdrew when he was 9 over after 14 holes for what the PGA Tour described as a left forearm injury.

1 June 2021, St Andrews, Scotland – The R&A has announced the countdown to The 150th Open which kicks off today with the launch of a special commemorative brand and the introduction of a ticket ballot to ensure the most equitable ticket sales process possible. 

First played in 1860, The Open has been graced by golf’s greatest champions including Tom Morris, the grandfather of golf, Bobby Jones, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Tom Watson, Seve Ballesteros, Sir Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods, and will mark its 150th playing with a true celebration of the sport at the Home of Golf from 10-17 July 2022. 

With the extremely high levels of demand to attend this historic championship, the introduction of a ballot for tickets is deemed the fairest and most equitable way of ensuring golf fans from around the world have the chance to secure their place at the world-renowned Old Course next July. Hospitality for the event has been on sale since last year, with 85% of packages already sold. 

The ticket ballot will run from Thursday, 1 July 2021 to Monday, 4 October 2021 giving as many fans as possible the opportunity to register for tickets. A balance of allocations will ensure every generation of fan, from all over the world, as well as throughout the UK and the local area, will be able to attend the celebrations in St Andrews next July. 

Martin Slumbers, Chief Executive of The R&A, said, “This is a momentous occasion for golf as well as The Open and one which sports fans everywhere are looking forward to enormously. The 150th Open will give fans the opportunity to be part of a unique and unparalleled celebration at the birthplace of the game in St Andrews. 

The new 150th commemorative brand will be displayed across a campaign of content and activations that will run throughout the next 14 months until the conclusion of next year’s Championship at St Andrews. The focus of the campaign will be the remarkable journey of The Open and its enduring impact on players, fans and the sport of golf itself since it was first staged back in 1860. 

The 150th logo is made up of individual threads that each represent the millions of journeys connected to the Championship. From the greats of the game, to the hundreds of millions of golfers who have played the game since 1860, to the vast array of championships that take place in the global golfing calendar, the journey of our sport is intimately linked to the pioneers who started The Open to identify the Champion Golfer of the Year more than a century-and-a-half ago. The threads will be prominently used in imagery throughout the build-up to The 150th Open, emphasising the campaign’s central message that ‘everything has led to this’ as we count down to what promises to be a truly unforgettable occasion. 

Ticket prices for The 150th Open will be £95 for an adult on Championship days and will range from £20 to £50 on practice days. The R&A is fully committed to encouraging more children and young people to attend The Open and free tickets will be available to children through the successful and long-running “Kids go Free” programme, while half-price youth tickets are available for 16-24 year-olds. In order to give as many people as possible the chance to attend the Championship, weekly tickets are being discontinued. 

The ticket ballot will be available exclusively to members of The One Club, the free-to-join membership programme. Fans can sign up to The One Club any time at www.TheOpen.com and will be among the first to be notified when the ballot is open. 

Origins Hospitality, a range of fully inclusive experiences, is available to purchase now and is the only way fans can guarantee their place at the Championship. Visit www.TheOpen.com/hospitality2022 for further information. 

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) – Jason Kokrak played in 233 PGA Tour events before getting his first victory. The big hitter didn’t have to wait nearly as long to win again, though this one may have been harder because he had to overcame a local favorite at Colonial.

Kokrak shot an even-par 70 in a final-group showdown Sunday with resurgent Jordan Spieth, winning the Charles Schwab Challenge at 14-under 266. He was two strokes better than Spieth, who hit his approach from the rough at No. 18 over the green and into the water.

“You stay in the moment and it’s a golf course. You’re playing the golf course, you’re playing yourself. You’re not really playing Jordan,” Kokrak said. “But for where we got to in comparison to some of the other players, I knew it was going to be a boxing match and see who was going to come out on top.”

There were five bogeys and five birdies for Kokrak, who twice needed two shots to get out of bunkers. There were also back-to-back bogeys at Nos. 15 and 16 before a key par-saving 7-foot putt after his approach missed the 17th green.

But when he struck his round-ending 4-footer, he followed the ball to the cup and finally broke into a smile when celebrating with caddie David Robinson.

Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., finished in a tie for eighth at 6-under. Fellow Canadians Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., and Nick Taylor of Abbotsford finished in ties for 20th and 62nd, respectfully.

A huge crowd followed the only contending group all day, most of them waiting to erupt for Dallas-native Spieth, who began the round with a one-stroke lead before a bogey-filled 73. Kokrak said he heard some negative comments and knew he “definitely was not the favorite,” but did have a high school buddy and a cousin’s friend supporting him on the course.

Kokrak, playing in his 16th tournament since winning the CJ Cup at Shadow Creek in October, joined Bryson DeChambeau and Stewart Cink as the only players with two wins on the PGA Tour this season.

Spieth, the 2016 winner at Colonial, was a runner-up there for the third time after leading each of the first three rounds.

“I didn’t play well at all, quite simply. I could have shot even par today and won the golf tournament, but from the very get-go, just a really bad start, and then tried to fight my way through it,” Spieth said. “I was just really off with my golf swing. I really lost it this weekend. You just have to be in control around Colonial.”

It was still his eighth top-10 finish in his last 11 starts this year, one more top 10 than he had the previous two seasons combined.

Along with the $1.35 million winner’s check and plaid jacket, Kokrak got a customized restored 1946 Schwab Power Wagon, a truck with 40-inch tires and a model date matching the first year of Colonial, the longest-running PGA event at the same venue.

Charley Hoffman had a closing 65 to finish in a four-way third at 10 under. He also had a tournament-best 62 on Friday, but that was sandwiched by a pair of over-par rounds (71 on Thursday and 72 on Saturday). Patton Kizzire (67), Sebastian Munoz (68) and Ian Poulter (68) were also at 10-under 270. Troy Merritt was alone in seventh at 7 under.

Sergio Garcia was in third place at 10 under to start the final round, but the 41-year-old Spaniard, who got the first of his 11 PGA Tour wins 20 years ago at Colonial, bogeyed the opening par 5, then had had a three-putt for double bogey at No. 3. He shot a 76 and tied for 20th at 276.

Kokrak took the lead for good with birdies at the longest and shortest holes, making a 13-foot putt at the 629-yard 11th hole, an then a 17-footer off the fringe at the 170-yard 13th after a tee shot the came close to going into the water fronting the par 3. Spieth only had two birdies, the last with an approach to less than 2 feet on No. 9 that matched them at 14 under going to the back nine.

After going into a greenside bunker at the 551-yard opening hole, Kokrak didn’t get the ball out of there on the first try and the bogey quickly put him two strokes behind.

But Spieth, who had only two bogeys in the first 55 holes, then bogeyed three holes in a row – and had two more on the back nine. He went in the right rough and then over the green on both Nos. 2 and 3, then hit into a bunker fronting the difficult 241-yard, par-3 fourth. He blasted to six feet, but his par attempt curled around the edge of the cup and he had to tap in for bogey.

Kokrak led for the first time after a 23-foot birdie putt at the fifth, but his other bunker trouble came at No. 7, where he bogeyed while Spieth made par after a wayward tee shot hit a tree and ricocheted into the fairway.

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) – Jordan Spieth knows how to finish right out of the rough, and still had the lead after three rounds at Colonial.

After hitting his final drive Saturday into the thick grass on an incline right of the No. 18 fairway, Spieth recovered with an approach to 8 feet before rolling in the birdie putt that gave him the solo lead again over playing partner Jason Kokrak in the final group at the the Charles Schwab Challenge.

Local favorite Spieth had his second consecutive round of 4-under 66 to get to 15 under at Colonial, where he was the 2016 champion and has been a runner-up two times. He led by one stroke over Kokrak, who had matched him for the lead with four birdies in a six-hole stretch before his closing par in his round of 66.

The resurgent Spieth has the 54-hole lead for a PGA Tour best-matching fourth time this season, all in a span of 11 tournaments. That stretch includes his win at the Valero Texas Open, the first time he had won since the 2017 British Open.

Sergio Garcia, who was 21 when he got the first of his 11 PGA Tour victories at Colonial 20 years ago, was alone in third at 10 under after a 68 with one bogey.

Ian Poulter had the best round of the day with a 64 after getting started with four birdies in a five-hole stretch on the front nine, moving up 26 spots into a tie for fourth at 8 under with Sebastian Munoz (70). Two-time heart transplant recipient Erik Compton was tied for sixth at 7 under with Brendon Todd and Patton Kizzire.

Midway through the round, Spieth had another recovery out of the right rough, almost as impressive as his final hole even though that was only a par.

Coming off his second bogey of the day, Spieth pulled out a driver and missed the fairway, leaving no shot to the No. 9 green fronted by water. He punched a shot safely into the fairway, pitched over the water to 12 feet and rolled in the par putt.

Kokrak, who is 35th in the world ranking and only seven spots behind Spieth, birdied the first two holes of the day to match the lead at 12 under.

Spieth made a 13-foot birdie putt at the long, difficult par-3 No. 4 hole, but at the No. 5 hole that runs parallel to the Trinity River hit his first two shots both into the left rough and had first bogey in 41 holes at Hogan’s Alley this week. He got that stroke right back, and stretched the lead to three strokes with his 21-foot birdie at No. 6, where Kokrak had his second consecutive bogey.

Both players had birdies at No. 15, Kokrak getting even at 13 under only for seconds before Spieth’s birdie there. Korkrak caught up again at 14 under with a 13-foot birdie at No. 17, and was in the middle of the fairway at No. 18 when his playing partner went way right.

They will play again in the final group Sunday.

The 36-year-old Kokrak got his first career victory in the CJ Cup at Shadow Creek in Las Vegas in October. That was after he tied for third at Colonial last June, when the Charles Schwab Challenge that marked the PGA Tour’s resumption of competition after a 12-week pause because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., is tied for ninth at 6 under, while Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., is tied for 17th and Nick Taylor of Abbotsford is tied for 34th.

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) – Jordan Spieth has started playing well again just about everywhere he goes. He has always felt comfortable close to home at Colonial, where he is in the lead.

PGA champion Phil Mickelson was headed home to California after he bogeyed two of his last three holes, missing the cut at the Charles Schwab Challenge by one stroke.

Spieth was bogey-free again Friday, with a 4-under 66 to take the lead after the second round at 11-under 129 at Hogan’s Alley. The Dallas native was one shot ahead of Jason Kokrak, who had his second consecutive round of 65.

Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., is tied for sixth, four shots back at 7 under. Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., and Nick Taylor of Abbotsford are 3 under., while Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., and Michael Gligic of Burlington, Ont., missed the cut.

Mickelson, who turns 51 on June 16, became the oldest winner of a golf major at the PGA Championship last weekend. But Lefty finished 2 over at Colonial after his second-round 69, which included three birdies in a four-hole stretch to end his front nine.

But Mickelson’s 7-foot par chance at the par-3 16th rolled over the left edge and did a half-circle around the cup without going in. With the sun shining through the clouds, his have-to-make 10-footer on No. 18 slid just left of the hole.

Mickelson left the course almost immediately after that, telling a PGA Tour official on his way out that he enjoyed his time at the tournament. The two-time Colonial champion said he hated that he wouldn’t be around for the weekend.

Sergio Garcia (69), the first-round co-leader with Spieth whose first PGA Tour win came at Colonial 20 years ago, was tied for third at 8 under with Sebastian Munoz and Patton Kizzire, who both shot 65 Friday. Munoz had six birdies on the back nine, including the final three holes after a double bogey at No. 15.

Kokrak, Garcia and Munoz were in the morning wave of players who all finished before a weather delay of 2 hours and 26 minutes during the afternoon.

A steady drizzle started about the same time Spieth, Mickelson and defending champion Daniel Berger teed off at No. 1 to start their second round together. Mickelson had a bogey on the opening par-5.

The rain had pretty much stopped before play was suspended because of lightning nearby from a weather system producing heavy storms south of the course. At that point, Mickelson was in a greenside bunker at No. 3, with Spieth 23 feet from the cup on the same hole.

Mickelson’s first shot when play resumed nearly 2 1/2 hours later was a blast to set up a par-saving 7-foot putt. Spieth rolled in his second consecutive birdie.

Spieth is playing in his 11th tournament since missing the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open at the end of January. His seven top-10 finishes since then match his total in 40 events the previous two seasons combined. He won the Valero Texas Open, his first victory since the 2017 British Open. He won in 2016 at Colonial, where he has two runner-up finishes and three others in the top 10.

Kokrak still hits the ball a long way, and now has a long putter when on the greens. The 35th-ranked player in the world, who is 6-foot-4 and has made the FedEx Cup playoff the past eight seasons, switched to a putter with a 36-inch shaft this season..

“I was 190th in putting but I was a top five ball-striker, so I concentrated more on the putter as of late, and you know, it’s been hot,” he said. “But you know, I still want to concentrate on the ball-striking. I’ve been struggling with the driver, so I think finding a driver this week that I’m comfortable with, it’s gone a long way.”

His best back-to-back rounds this year, with six birdies and a bogey in each round, are on the Colonial course where he had his best finish last season. He tied for third last June in the Charles Schwab Challenge that marked the PGA Tour’s resumption of competition after a 12-week pause because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since then, the 36-year-old Kokrak got his first career victory in the CJ Cup at Shadow Creek in Las Vegas in October.

The low round of the day was a season-best 62 by Charlie Hoffman, who overcame an early bogey at No. 3, when his approach missed the green after a drive into the rough. He had four consecutive birdies, at Nos. 14-17, before a par-saver with a chip to 2 feet at No. 18.

Hoffman, who had an opening 71, was tied for sixth at 7-under 133.

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) – Phil Mickelson kept hearing congratulatory words as he made his way around Colonial, and there was a huge roar from the crowd when the PGA Championship winner made a long putt to finish his round. Jordan Spieth kept making birdies in the same group.

Spieth shot a 7-under 63 on a breezy Thursday and was tied for the first-round lead at the Charles Schwab Challenge with Sergio Garcia, who had a 15-foot birdie attempt on the 18th hole that circled the edge of the cup but didn’t go in. Both former Colonial champions had bogey-free rounds.

The 50-year-old Mickelson, only four days after becoming the oldest winner of a golf major, was 10 strokes back after a 73 that ended with the 22-foot birdie while playing with local favorite Spieth and defending Colonial champion Daniel Berger (68).

Garcia matched the closing 63 he had at Colonial when he got the first of his 11 PGA Tour wins 20 years ago at age 21. He was 5 under on the four-hole stretch right in the middle of the round. He birdied holes No. 8-10 before an eagle at the 620-yard 11th, where he blasted out of a greenside bunker on the course’s longest hole.

“It was quite breezy. It was gusty, so it wasn’t easy to pull some of the clubs,” Garcia said. “There were some tough holes out there, but I was able to hit really good shots on those holes, and a couple up-and-downs when I needed them.”

Right after Mickelson’s final putt at the 387-yard ninth, Spieth had a tap-in for his third birdie in a row, and seventh overall – and right after a 71-foot chip-in from the rough at the par-3 eighth. The 2016 winner and two-time runner-up had his best score in 33 career rounds at Colonial, one of two local events for the Dallas native, after rolling in a 12-foot birdie putt to start the day.

“It’s hard to go any lower,” Spieth said. “That’s what I talked about before the tournament. If I could get a couple to go in early in the first round, and the confidence, and the work I’ve been doing on my stroke the last few days … I thought that would exude just a little bit of confidence into the rest of the round on greens where I’ve been very successful on before.”

Erik Compton, the two-time heart transplant recipient who got into the field on a sponsor exemption, and Jason Kokrak had 65s. The 41-year-old Compton played bogey-free after birdies on the first two holes of his second PGA Tour start this year. He missed the cut at the Honda Classic.

Mickelson, the 2000 and 2008 Colonial champ, missed nine of 14 fairways – some with irons off the tee – in a scrambling early-starting round that followed an emotionally draining few days.

After winning Sunday at Kiawah Island in South Carolina, Mickelson flew home that night to California, then allowed himself a couple of days to relish his historic accomplishment. Lefty said he never considered skipping Hogan’s Alley, a tree-lined course he considers perfectly suited for his game because he doesn’t have to keep hitting drivers.

But the rough is thick after a lot of rain recently, and there is a good chance of more Friday.

Mickelson, playing his last tournament before the hometown U.S. Open at Torrey Pines next month, went into the rough on his first swing of the day. While saving par at the 407-yard 10th, he quickly had the first of his five bogeys at No. 11, where he hit two shots into the rough and another into a greenside bunker. He finally made a birdie at the par-3 16th from inside of 5 feet, then immediately gave that stroke back at No. 17 with the first two shots into the rough before a 44-foot shot into a bunker.

“It was almost like I was trying a little too hard, and I wasn’t just calm and let it happen, and I was a little bit antsy,” Mickelson said, then adding the term unsettled. “Like I just couldn’t quite get calmed down in that same frame of mind.”

Mickelson said the course was very playable, even with the 15-20 mph winds, because of receptive greens. But he couldn’t keep the ball in the fairway.

“You can’t play this course out of the rough because then you have tree trouble, which I had repeatedly, and I didn’t putt well,” he said. “But I won the PGA, so I’ll see if I can get it turned around for tomorrow and get a little better focus, a little better energy.”

Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., shot a four-under 66 and is in a tie for fifth. Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., shot an even-par 70, Nick Taylor of Abbotsford shot a 71, Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., shot a 72, and Michael Gligic of Burlington, Ont., shot a 77.

KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. (AP) – The wind was more manageable at Kiawah Island on Saturday, there were plenty of friendly hole locations and Pete Dye’s punishing seaside track still wasn’t set up to play its maximum distance.

Moving day at the PGA Championship? It could have been, but the leaderboard was mostly static.

Rickie Fowler, who teed off almost four hours before the final group of Phil Mickelson and Louis Oosthuizen, shot a 3-under 69 – the sixth and, as it turned out, the final round of the day in the 60s.

“Even though the wind being down a little bit from the last two days, it’s still a tough test from start to finish. Anything under par is a good thing, especially Saturday, to kind of move back up into – I guess a little bit the thick of things,” Fowler said.

His even-par total of 216 left him seven shots behind Mickelson, and given how the rest of the day played out, Fowler couldn’t have asked for much more.

The Ocean Course played to a scoring average of 73.0, 2 1/2 shots easier than Friday’s second round. But Dye’s design and major championship pressure made 69 an elusive number.

Instead of moving, it felt like the major champions and world-class players chasing Mickelson were standing around watching him. He opened a five-shot lead before falling back with a bogey-double bogey stretch on the back nine.

Several contenders had a chance to break 70 but couldn’t finish it off.

Playing with Fowler, Joel Dahmen shot 5-under 31 on the front nine but chunked back-to-back shots on the par-4 10th and made a 6. He shot 70.

Tony Finau was 4 under through 16 holes but closed with back-to-back bogeys and settled for a 70. Playing partner Patrick Cantlay had the only bogey-free round of the tournament but made only two birdies.

Kevin Streelman was 3 under on the 18th tee but drove it right into a waste bunker, leading to bogey and – yep, another 70.

Brooks Koepka’s 69th shot of the day was a 7-foot putt for par that would have kept him tied with Mickelson. He missed.

And, finally, Mickelson’s flop shot from behind the 18th green bounced just wide of the pin. He closed out his 70 by holing the 5-foot comebacker for par.

Big numbers prevented others from going low.

Bryson DeChambeau’s scores of 72, 71 and 71 would suggest consistency, and he did play the final three holes in even par on Saturday – with a birdie, a double bogey and another birdie.

Charley Hoffman made an impressive six birdies but sprinkled in five bogeys and a double. Gary Woodland made six birdies and three doubles.

Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama was one of a few to make a hard move in the opposite direction. He was 5 under for the tournament before he dropped five shots in a four-hole stretch. One last bogey on the 18th gave him a 42 on the back nine and a 76.

Jordan Spieth and Billy Horschel shot 68, the best score of the day. But Horschel made the cut on the number and Spieth was only one better through 36 holes.

It was still enough to move him up 37 spots to a tie for 13th at even par.

“If I were at 4 under and the lead was only 7, then things could be different,” Spieth said. “But I’m not.”

Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., is tied for 10th after shooting a 73. Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., shot a 76.