Australian Steve Elkington carded an eight-under-par 64 to take a one-shot lead over Phil Mickelson after the first round of the BellSouth Classic yesterday.
Ireland’s Padraig Harrington is well placed in the field after carding a 69.
Elkington led a birdie barrage at the TPC at Sugarloaf, overcoming a double-bogey on the third hole with a remarkable seven birdies on the front.
He started a string of four straight birdies on the fourth and reached the turn at five-under 31 before adding three more on the back.
Mickelson, who captured this tournament two years ago, is one stroke ahead of a group of five players that includes Dudley Hart, Frank Nobilo and Ian Leggatt and Scandinavians Thomas Bjorn and Jesper Parnevik.
Some 25 players are within four shots of the lead, while 75 of 143 players in the field broke par.
Vijay Singh carded a three-under 69 to finish tied for 26th after capturing the Houston Open last week for his first win since the 2000 Masters and climbed two spots to sixth in the world rankings.
David Toms, the reigning PGA Championship winner, was one of 14 players to shoot 68.