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.

KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. (AP) – Phil Mickelson doesn’t need to be reminded of his age at the PGA Championship. The numbers alone speak for that, and not just his age of 50.

Buffeted by the wind along the closing holes, Mickelson was dropping shots – not unusual on the brute of an Ocean Course at Kiawah Island – and was back to even par for the championship.

And then the guy who keeps everyone in suspense ran off five birdies and finished the day with a 3-under 69 to share the lead with Louis Oosthuizen, much steadier in his round of 68.

Even at the halfway point, Mickelson joined some elite company.

He became the sixth player since 1900 to have at least a share of the lead after any round in a major over four decades. The first time for Lefty was at the 1996 PGA Championship.

The other five players were Sam Snead (starting in the 1930s), Gary Player (1950s), Jack Nicklaus and Raymond Floyd (1960s) and Tom Watson (1970s).

No one in his 50s has been atop the leaderboard in a major since 52-year-old Fred Couples after two rounds of the 2012 Masters. The most famous senior was Watson, who was 59 when he led after 54 holes at Turnberry in the 2009 British Open.

Mickelson majored in psychology, not history, at Arizona State. All that matters to him is winning, and no one over 50 has ever done that in a major.

Mickelson played the opening two rounds with Padraig Harrington, who turns 50 in August. Harrington was only five shots out of the lead, not enough for him to make some comparisons about how their minds work.

“I’m bullish about where I am and I’m sure Phil is, too,” Harrington said. “He’s not here to make the cut. Even 15th would be a disappointment. You know what? Even second would be a disappointment for Phil. I’m a little bit like that, too. … It doesn’t do my career any good. It doesn’t do Phil’s any good.

“That might make it harder for us at times because we over-push and over-try because winning is the only thing that will bring any satisfaction.”

There’s enough hard work ahead of them, and everyone else who made the cut at 5-over 149.

That list doesn’t include three of the top four players in the world – Dustin Johnson (1), Justin Thomas (2) and Xander Schauffele (4).

There’s plenty of entertainment around for those who will be around on the weekend, and it figures to be a much better show than the last time at Kiawah Island. Rory McIlroy won in 2012 and set the PGA Championship record with an eight-shot victory.

The wind was raging for one round that year. It doesn’t seem to stop this year.

That made Oosthuizen’s round all the more impressive. He was bogey-free the entire round and was in good shape to keep his card clean until his approach to the 18th had just enough pace to tumble over the table-top green. He didn’t get it up-and-down, made his only bogey and had to share the 36-hole lead with Mickelson.

Oosthuizen’s lone major was at St. Andrews in the 2010 British Open, and he has been close to adding another one over the years. There was the playoff loss to Bubba Watson in 2012 at the Masters, and to Zach Johnson in 2015 at St. Andrews. He was runner-up at the 2015 U.S. Open at Chambers Bay, and to Justin Thomas in the 2017 PGA Championship at Quail Hollow.

That’s the career Grand Slam of silver medals, and it’s not much of a consolation. The PGA Tour pointed out that it will be 3,962 days on Sunday from the last time Oosthuizen won a major.

That sounds like a worse number than 50.

“I don’t think it’s a case of not being able to or thinking that I can’t get the second (major),” Oosthuizen said. “Look, it’ll be great to get a second major. There’s a lot of golf left, and I just feel whenever I get to a major, I have my game where I want to have it.”

There’s a lot of golf left and lot of players still in the mix.

Brooks Koepka made an eagle from a bush and an eagle from the short grass, enough to offset his four bogeys. He threw in another birdie for a 71 and was one shot behind.

Branden Grace and Christiaan Bezuidenhout, among the 11 South Africans at Kiawah Island, were two shots behind along with Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama. The Japanese star still hasn’t been asked about the calendar Grand Slam, and it would probably take a Wanamaker Trophy to go along with his green jacket for that question to be posed to his interpreter.

Eighteen players were under par. Another key number is 36, the number of holes remaining, and that feels like a long way to go in conditions that have been punishing.

“It’s a major, man. It’s going to be tough, especially with the wind blowing,” Koepka said. “It doesn’t matter, just go out and go play.”

Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., is tied for seventh after shooting a second round 75, Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., made the cut with a two-day score of 148, while Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., missed the cut.

KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. (AP) – Amid the wind and the havoc at Kiawah Island, there was a semblance of simplicity to the way Corey Conners navigated his way around the Ocean Course for a 5-under 67 and a two-shot lead Thursday in the PGA Championship.

He birdied all the par 5s. He made a couple of long putts for birdie. He dropped only one shot. The scorecard alone made it look like a walk on the beach.

It just didn’t feel that way.

“I’d say it’s impossible to be stress-free around this golf course,” Conners said. “You can’t fall asleep out there on any holes. It’s very challenging. I was fortunate to have a good day. Made it as least stressful as possible on myself.”

With a stiff wind into his face for his last five holes, the 29-year-old Canadian played the tough closing stretch in 2 under, one of those birdies a 55-foot putt from just short of the green.

He led by two shots over a half-dozen players. That group included Brooks Koepka, who started his day with a double bogey and stayed largely out of trouble the rest of the way; and Cameron Davis, who overcame a triple bogey on the sixth hole.

Keegan Bradley, Viktor Hovland, Aaron Wise and Sam Horsfield also were at 69. The seven players to break 70 were the fewest for the opening round of the PGA Championship since there were five at Hazeltine in 2002.

No one needed them like Koepka, a major presence when conditions are severe. One hole into this major, he had reason to be more worried about his brain than his ailing right knee.

His opening tee shot on the 10th hole at Kiawah Island was struck poorly and didn’t quite clear a waste area. Koepka tried to do too much from a soft lie in the sand and barely got it out. It led to a double bogey, and the toughest part of the Ocean Course was still to come.

But this is a major, and this is Koepka, and that’s when he’s at his best. He knuckled down from that mess by running off six birdies the rest of the way.

“You can’t do that stuff if you want to win. You’ve just got to be more focused,” said Koepka, who has played only twice in the last three months because of surgery to repair ligaments in his knee. “I don’t know if that’s a lack of not playing or what. It was just stupid. I was able to recover, I guess.”

So did 50-year-old Phil Mickelson, who had four bogeys through six holes and nothing but birdies and pars the rest of the way to join the large group at 70 that included defending champion Collin Morikawa and former U.S. Open champion Gary Woodland.

More telling were those on the other side of par, some of whom will be scrambling to make it to the weekend.

Dustin Johnson, the No. 1 player in the world in the midst of his worst stretch in nearly two years, took a double bogey from a wild tee shot on the front nine and a double bogey on the 18th for a 76. He’s in jeopardy of missing the cut in consecutive majors in the same year for the first time in his career.

Justin Thomas took double bogey on the 18th hole in the morning and two holes later sent a sand shot over the green and just into a hazard for another 6 on the par-5 second. He had a 75.

Rory McIlroy, coming off a victory at Quail Hollow two weeks ago, sent his opening tee shot into a water hazard. He salvaged a bogey, but certainly not his round. McIlroy made bogey on three of the par 5s for a 75, his worst start ever in a PGA Championship.

Jordan Spieth, who needs a victory to complete the career Grand Slam, shot 73.

The PGA of America moved up tee boxes, as expected, to account for the wind. The course played to 7,660 yards – 178 yards shorter than the scorecard – though that didn’t make it easy. Thomas, for one, still hit 7-wood into the 214-yard 17th.

John Daly was among 12 players who shot in the 80s. On the 30-year anniversary of his PGA Championship victory at Crooked Stick, he shot 85.

There were birdies to be had, and mistakes to be made, and Martin Laird was example of both. So wild was his round that he he made bogey on No. 12, ran off four straight birdies and then closed with two bogeys. That added to a 70, not a bad day’s work.

“I kind of went out with the mindset this week, even though it’s hard, don’t give the course too much respect,” Laird said. “You still have to take on shots when you have the chance. When I had a spot where I could go at the flag, I was making sure I kept doing it and hit a lot of really nice shots and managed to make some birdies.

“You’re going to hit bogeys on this golf course,” he said. “It’s nice when you can throw in a bunch of birdies, too.”

Finally heeled from a left knee injury, Koepka injured ligaments in his right knee in March and has played only twice since then, the Masters and last week in Dallas.

He began with a poor 3-wood on No. 10 that didn’t clear the waste area. He took on too much with a soft lie in the sand and barely got it out, leading to a double bogey. But he didn’t flinch and had few complaints about his start.

“It’s a major. I’m going to show up. I’m ready to play,” he said. “I love it when it’s difficult. I think that’s why I do so well in the majors. I just know mentally I can grind it out.”

Canadians Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., and Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., are also in the field. Hughes shot a 75 and Hadwin shot a 77.