PEBBLE BEACH – This time, Gary Woodland knew how to take it all the way to the end of a major championship.

“I’m getting more and more comfortable from the situation just because I’ve been in the situation a lot,” Woodland said. “I’ve had a lot of close calls even this year in tournaments.”

Woodland fended off a challenge from the reigning champion and won his first major, shooting 2-under 69 during Sunday’s final round of the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach on the shores of northern California.

Woodland, who’s from Topeka, Kan., finished 13-under 271 for the tournament for a three-shot victory. The 35-year-old, who was a college golfer at Kansas, capped the round with a birdie putt of about 30 feet on the last hole.

“The idea was to play to win,” Woodland said. “I never really thought the tournament was over.”

Brooks Koepka, the two-time defending champion, made it interesting, finishing with 68 after a torrid start to the round. He ended up at 10 under.

Being able to finish ahead of Koepka seemed like an accomplishment in itself.

“Brooks has obviously played phenomenal,” Woodland said. “I don’t know if anybody has done what he’s been doing since Tiger (Woods) did it.”

Koepka, who won last month’s PGA Championship, posted birdies on four of the first five holes. He closed with six straight pars, barely missing a birdie putt on the final hole that would have closed the gap to one stroke at the time.

Woodland, who earlier had rounds of 68, 65 and 69, is only the fifth golfer to have all four rounds below 70 in a U.S. Open. Koepka also did so this week, but he didn’t leave with the big prize.

“I felt like I’ve put myself in good chances where I’m very comfortable around that,” Koepka said. “I felt I’ve given it all I had this week and it’s just not my week (to win).”

Woodland’s chip on No. 17 set up a par to maintain a two-shot edge and was one of the tournament’s defining moments.

“I actually had that shot earlier in the week,” Woodland said. “It came off perfectly (this time). … I have a short game now I can rely on. I don’t have to focus on the ball-striking. This is a golf course I don’t have to pound a lot of drivers, I can play a little more conservatively, stick to my game plan.”

Woodland’s third bogey of the tournament came on the ninth hole Sunday. He gave another stroke back on No. 12.

Even with Koepka lurking, Woodland held it together to become a four-time winner on the PGA Tour.

Xander Schauffele (67), Chez Reavie (71), England’s Justin Rose (74) and Spain’s Jon Rahm (68) tied for third place at 7 under.

Rose shared the top spot briefly on the final day but couldn’t stay there. He was undone by bogeys on Nos. 12, 13 and 15.

Rahm was among the contenders who felt a sense of accomplishment even without the title.

“Still a great score, still a great U.S. Open,” Rahm said. “Hopefully I can progress in this event in the future.”

With a birdie on the first hole, Rose pulled even with Woodland as the leaders began the round.

Webb Simpson, with birdies on three of the last six holes, shot the best round of the day at 5 under. That put him at 3 under and tied for 16th.

“Made the eagle on (No.) 6 to start me in the right direction,” Simpson said.

Woods, the Masters champion, shot 69 for his best round of the tournament. He ended up at 2 under and tied for 21st place.

After four bogeys on the first six holes, he had six birdies the rest of the way.

“I wish I would have known because I would have turned it around a little earlier than that,” Woods said of the reason for the change of fortunes. “Again, got off to another crappy start and was able to fight it off.”

–Field Level Media

PEBBLES BEACH – England’s Justin Rose was the clubhouse leader with a 7-under-par 135 as the U.S. Open neared the midway point of the second round on Friday on the shores of northern California.

Rose shot a 1-under 70 in the second round and held a two-shot lead over Aaron Wise.

Rose had three birdies and two bogeys on Friday. He shot a blistering 65 in the opening round.

“I’m happy. I felt there was an opportunity to go a few better,” Rose told Fox Sports 1 after his round “… You’re going to make some mistakes during the course of the week. You shake it off and that’s what U.S. Opens are all about.”

Wise, who fired a first-round 66, had consistency issues while carding a 71 that left him at 5 under.

Wise had five birdies, three bogeys and a double-bogey.

Two-time defending champion Brooks Koepka was three shots off the pace after his second straight 69. He is the first defending champ since Scott Simpson in 1988 to score under 70 in his first two rounds.

Koepka had three birdies and one bogey while hitting 12 of 14 fairways. He did experience some putting issues.

“Funny thing was I was hitting good putts,” Koepka told Fox Sports 1 after his round. “I don’t mind it if I’m going to hit good putts and they’re going to miss. That happened today. Ball striking was tremendously better today. … Never really felt like I had to work. It was quite an easy round.”

Also tied with Koepka at 4 under were Matt Kuchar (69), Chesson Hadley (70) and Chez Reavie (70). Kuchar made an eagle putt on 18 to end his round.

Tiger Woods bogeyed his final two holes — at Nos. 8 and 9 — to post a 72. He sits seven strokes behind Rose.

Rickie Fowler, Xander Schauffele and South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen — who all shot 66 in the first round — and Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy (68 on Thursday) all had afternoon tee times.

–Field Level Media

PEBBLE BEACH – England’s Justin Rose punctuated a day of record-smashing scoring by the field on Thursday, rolling in a birdie putt on his final hole to tie Tiger Woods’ all-time record at a U.S. Open with a 6-under-par 65.

Rose isn’t likely to pull away like Woods did in 2000 for a 15-stroke victory. His birdie on 18 put him one shot clear of Rickie Fowler, Xander Schauffele, Aaron Wise and South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen.

Rose needed only 22 putts Thursday, and was a perfect 15-for-15 from inside 10 feet. He rolled in three consecutive birdies to finish his round, and said he knew the final one was for something special when it dropped in while playing with Woods. 

“The only reason that I knew is that, I think maybe Rickie (Fowler) had that putt (for the record) earlier today,” Rose told FOX Sports. “I was watching a little bit of the coverage … so on the last hole I thought, ‘This would be kind of cool to do it in front of the great man himself.'”

Rose hit only nine greens, but made a number of sand saves and relied heavily on the most improved aspect of his game. The 2013 U.S. Open champion at Merion entered the week ranked 11th on Tour in putting.

“Any U.S. Open, you have to manage your game,” he said. “The premium here isn’t necessarily about length, it’s about keeping the ball under the hole. But I don’t know if I did a good job of anything well today except scrambling. Which is nice, it’s nice to score like that and know there’s a little bit more in the long game.”

Scott Piercy, who was twice at 5 under during the morning wave, bogeyed his final hole to drop to 4 under, where he is tied for sixth place with Nate Lashley. A group of eight players another shot off the pace includes Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy, Italy’s Francesco Molinari and Sweden’s Henrik Stenson.

Two-time defending U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka reached 3 under before suffering his lone bogey of the day at the par-3 17th. He is tied for 16th along with Matt Kuchar, Spain’s Sergio Garcia and amateur Viktor Hovland.

“I felt really comfortable right out of the gates and struck it nicely,” said Koepka, who has won four of the past nine majors. “Unfortunately, I didn’t hit it as well on the back nine. And if you don’t hit greens out here, you’re not going to score. You can shoot yourself out of it today, and I didn’t do that.”

Woods battled an inconsistent iron game throughout his first round. Like his playing partner Rose, Woods used a bevy of hard-earned scrambles for par to get into the clubhouse in a tie for 28th at 1 under.

Playing in the morning wave, Fowler carded six birdies against a lone bogey. He pulled his approach shot left on the par-5 18th hole, and his birdie putt slid right of the cup, preventing Fowler from beating Rose to the punch in tying Woods’ Pebble Beach record.

“I thought I made it as soon as I hit it, just didn’t really react the way I thought it would,” Fowler told FOX Sports. “To be honest, I felt like that was about as bad as I could have shot. I thought there was more out there.

“It was just a fun day, it’s nice when you can shoot a stress-free 66 and get off to a good start for the week.”

Fowler was alone atop the scoreboard when he left the course, but he soon was joined by Schauffele and Oosthuizen, who chipped in for eagle on his second hole of the day and holed out from a green-side bunker on No. 9 to finish it.

Schauffele also had an eagle, but did it in dramatic fashion on the 18th hole after ricocheting his drive off the rocks along the ocean. He went on to cap off a 5-under 31 on the back nine.

“My round was solid, but I feel very fortunate just because of that late eagle,” he said. “I hit two really bad shots and a great putt, and that’s how that 3 occurred there.”

McIlroy carded a 3-under 68 in the morning wave despite failing to birdie any of the three par-5s.

“I think I did what I wanted to do,” McIlroy told FOX Sports with a sigh. “I feel like I just did everything you need to do in a U.S. Open. I stayed patient. I bogeyed the first hole, then played really, really solid golf after that.

“I did what you’re supposed to do at a U.S. Open — made a lot of pars, chipped off the birdies when you can … and I thought it was a good day’s work.”

Fowler’s day included six birdies against a lone bogey. Most important, he hit 13 fairways — his most on Tour this season.

“It definitely helps everything out from there. Driving the ball well frees you up a bit. I feel like I’m swinging it well throughout the bag. You gotta get the ball in the fairway to allow yourself to use the rest of your game to your advantage. If you don’t drive it in the fairway, you’re just playing catch-up.”

McIlroy was candid earlier in the week how important he felt getting off to a fast start would be. It has been five years and 17 starts since his last major victory, but McIlroy has also gone on to win the past three majors in which he opened with a 68 or better.

“Especially trying to get back to winning these big events, you know, it is important,” McIlroy said of Thursday’s start. “The first two majors of the year, I think I shot 73 at Augusta and I shot over par at Bethpage (in the PGA Championship) as well. It’s so hard to chase, especially when the golf courses are so hard.

“To get off to a good start like this today … you’re right in the tournament from the start, which is a nice position to be in.”

NOTES: World No. 2 Dustin Johnson shot an even-par 71. He is one shot ahead of Phil Mickelson, who won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February. … Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell (2-under 69), the winner of the last U.S. Open held at Pebble Beach in 2010, put together his first bogey-free round in a major since the 2009 PGA Championship at Bellerive. … Denmark’s Lucas Bjerregaard carded a 6-over 11 on the 18th hole Friday, the highest score on a single hole in a U.S. Open since John Daly’s 14 on 18 at Pebble Beach in 2000. Bjerregaard hit his first two tee shots left into Pacific Ocean and his third out of bounds.

–Field Level Media