Scott Brown and Phil Mickelson both had reason to believe it could be a long day on the South Course at Torrey Pines. It turned out just fine Thursday in the Farmers Insurance Open in San Diego, especially for Brown.
Brown hit into a hazard and made bogey on the first par 5 he faced and was 2 over through six. He finished with eight birdies over his last 11 holes for a 6-under 66, giving him a share of the lead with Andrew Loupe.
Only it felt much better for Brown because it was on the South, which played 2½ shots harder than the North Course, where Loupe shot his 66.
‘‘Extremely hard,’’ Brown said of the South, which already hosted one US Open and has another coming in five years. ‘‘But it’s fair. It’s just tough.’’
Brown and Loupe had a one-shot lead over five players, including Billy Horschel, who all played the North Course.
Defending champion Jason Day, who missed the pro-am because of the flu, made his tee time but not a lot of birdies. He shot 72 on the North Course. That was one shot better than Rickie Fowler, who couldn’t buy a putt on the North Course in his round of 73.
‘‘Couldn’t get anything going,’’ Fowler said. ‘‘Couldn’t make a putt. So looking forward to getting on the South greens, that’s for sure.’’
Mickelson didn’t have the ideal start, either. On the second-easiest par 4 on the South Course, he made double bogey.
‘‘I thought anything in the 60s would have been a good score,’’ Mickelson said. ‘‘It’s a very difficult golf course.’’
As significant as his birdies was a par on No. 11, where his tee shot found a bunker and he escaped with a 20-foot par putt. Mickelson hit enough good drives to set up three straight birdies. He reached the 614-yard 13th hole in two, hit wedge to 5 feet for birdie on the 14th, and an 8-iron to 4 feet on the next hole.
He ended with a 30-foot birdie putt on the 18th for a 69.
Of the 33 players who shots in the 60s, only 12 of the scores came on the South Course. K.J. Choi and Chesson Hadley each had a 68.
Asian/Japan — Jordan Spieth grabbed a share of third place in the opening round of the Singapore Open.
Spieth began with a birdie at Sentosa Golf Club and birdied three of his last 10 holes to complete a bogey-free 4-under 67.
That left him just one stroke behind the clubhouse leaders, South Africa’s Keith Horne and Berry Henson of the US.
An Byeong-hun of South Korea, the next highest-ranked player in the field at 26 in the world, matched Spieth’s 67. They were joined at 4-under by Japan’s Shintaro Kobayashi and Thailand’s Namchok Tantipokhakul, who were among 57 players still on the course when play was suspended.
LPGA — Michelle Wie was stung by a bee in the season-opening Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic, and second-ranked Inbee Park withdrew because of back pain after the second-worst round of her Tour career.
Wie was stung on the hand on the 16th hole, her seventh of the day at the windy Ocean Club in Paradise Island. She finished with a 3-over 76 to fall eight strokes behind first-round leaders Paula Creamer, Charley Hull, Alison Lee, Ashlan Ramsey, Catriona Matthew, Mika Miyazato, and Haru Nomura.
Park shot an 80, playing her final four holes in 5 over with a double bogey on the par-5 15th and three bogeys. She will sit out the Coates Golf Championship next week in Florida, and hopes to return late next month in the Honda LPGA Thailand.
European — Paul Lawrie shot a 6-under 66 at the Qatar Masters in Doha, giving the former British Open champion a one-shot lead after the second round.
The 47-year-old Lawrie followed up a first-round 67 to move to 11 under par, a stroke clear of Nicolas Colsaerts (68).
Lawrie missed the cut in Abu Dhabi last week and was given some putting advice from fellow Scottish player Marc Warren, who said Lawrie’s stroke was too long and slow.
