SAN DIEGO — 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.

“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 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.

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.”