Grip on Sports: If the USGA can stop messing up its championship, maybe then the organization and the world’s best golfers can kiss and make up

A GRIP ON SPORTS • There are only four major golf tournaments each year. When mistakes by the people in charge screw one up, it isn’t just a travesty, it’s also sad. Read on.

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• Most of the time at golf tournaments it doesn’t matter if the course is easy or hard. Everyone plays under the same conditions. 

Oh, sure, there are variables. A storm may blow in late in the day, changing everything. There is no controlling Mother Nature. Every participant knows that.

But when the golfing powers that be set up a course so that it plays one way for a while and another way later, that’s on them.

Such an occurrence happened to a large degree on Saturday at the U.S. Open. And to a lesser degree Sunday.

To recap: The USGA let Shinnecock Hills dry out Saturday, making it crusty and too fast for the pin placements. The players playing early had a course that was fair and invited decent scoring. Some took advantage of it. But by the late afternoon breaking par became an impossibility, meaning the players who had shown their superiority over the first two rounds were playing with a millstone around their neck. And it broke some.

The USGA admitted its mistake and promised to do better. Then Sunday it made the same mistake with a different spin.

By watering the greens and putting the pins in easier spots, the USGA invited low scores – for a while. There were birdies to be had early in the day. Tommy Fleetwood – and others to a lesser degree – took advantage, with Fleetwood shooting an Open-record-tying 63, putting him in the clubhouse with a plus-2 score.

That was everyone else’s target. But as the day wore on and the sun beat down and the wind crusted over the greens, it looked as if no one would be able to match it. Once again par became an elusive goal.

Fleetwood felt it at the end of his round. After getting to two-over at 15, he failed to birdie any of the final three holes, missing his chance for a solo scoring record. And, ultimately, falling short of victory.

By the time Fleetwood got to the final stretch, the course had changed again. It wasn’t the bear it was Saturday, but it wasn’t easy. That’s fine. If everyone is facing the same test.

Given an opportunity to repeat on Sunday after Saturday’s evisceration of the leaders, Brooks Koepka won his second consecutive U.S. Open title. He earned it, holding off Fleetwood, Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed, who opened Sunday with an aviary full of birdies, and anyone else who tried to challenge.

It was a test, that’s for sure. Was a fair test? That’s debatable.

• Next year the U.S. Open heads to the West Coast. Pebble Beach. The Pacific Ocean. Wind, rain and sea otters. Or maybe not. It can get pretty dry on the Central Coast in June, so the USGA might have to face the same type of decisions. It would be nice if it got them right.

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WSU: So Mike Leach’s on-line antics are getting national attention again. And, like always, there are some people who disagree with him. … Around the Pac-12, Oregon State and Washington meet today in Omaha, with an NCAA baseball title still a possibility for the winner. The loser heads home. … USC would have been that much better in basketball if De’Anthony Melton had been able to play. … Colorado believes it will be that much better on the football field next year because Steven Montez has been playing.

Gonzaga: USA Today liked what it saw from Gonzaga Prep’s Anton Watson at the NBA Players Top 100 camp in Charlottesville, Va., over the weekend.

Indians: There was a Father’s Day celebration at Avista Stadium yesterday, though Spokane didn’t win. Dave Nichols has the game coverage, Johnathan Curley has a notebook and Rob Curley has a column on the postgame activity, playing catch with dad on the field. … Elsewhere in the Northwest League, Everett has yet to win a game and Eugene lost its first one.

Mariners: The homestand may have been successful for the Mariners, on and off the field, but the final game wasn’t. Mike Leake got knocked around and the Red Sox won 9-3, splitting the four-game series. … There was a Father’s Day celebration at Safeco as well. … You have questions? There are answers.

Seahawks: Speaking of questions and answers, we can pass along some about Earl Thomas’ holdout.

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• School is out everywhere. For kids, summer is officially underway. I wonder what time most will rise out of bed on this first Monday (for Spokane-area children) without school? Over/under is noon. Until later …