JD in the hunt at Nelson

Gxgolfer · May 13, 2005

IRVING, Texas (AP) - Stuart Appleby birdied his first two holes in rolling to a 7-under 63 and a one-shot lead over John Daly, Ernie Els and Brett Wetterich in the Byron Nelson Championship first round on Thursday.

Stuart Appleby talks about his one-shot lead after the opening round of the EDS Byron Nelson Championship. Appleby managed a 7-under 63 to edge out Ernie Els and John Daly.

Els showed not much has changed since winning by a career-high 13 shots two weeks ago in Shanghai, playing with Vijay Singh and without a bogey on the TPC at Las Colinas course for a 64.

Daly was on the easier Cottonwood Valley course and described his 64 as "mediocre" and "comfortable." That included a chip-in for birdie behind the 12th green, and holing out a bunker shot on No. 3 for birdie. The only glitch was a three-putt bogey that denied him a share of the lead, but he's not one to complain.

"That was the only bad thing today," Daly said. "When I can say that on 18 holes, that's pretty good."

Singh, a winner in two of his last three tournaments, at times made it look easy with seven birdies. But he dropped five shots along the way, once catching the lip of a fairway bunker and leaving himself buried in deep grass. He rallied for two birdies on the final three holes for a 68.

"I played six, seven holes pretty good and six, seven holes pretty badly and six, seven holes OK," Singh said.

Tiger Woods had only two holes under par - a 6-foot eagle on the par-5 seventh, and a 30-foot birdie on the 18th - to offset two bogeys on his way to a 69.

"I just couldn't make any putts," said Woods, who missed only four greens but took 32 putts. "My lines are just a little off. If I felt yippy or twitch out there, it would be a different story, but I felt good."

Phil Mickelson had 17 pars and took 31 putts in a round of 69, while U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen shot 70.

If it seems like Appleby has disappeared since winning the season-opening Mercedes Championships, he has a reason. His wife gave birth to their first child in January, and he has played only seven times this year, about four below his typical schedule.

The 63 was only his fourth sub-par round since Hawaii, although the Aussie was not surprised.

"I play on the (U.S.) PGA Tour," he said. "That's what you're supposed to be able to do, isn't it? I would say that if you started coming out here and got surprised by shooting a low score, you'd really want to evaluate your mental state."

Some might question his head for racing in his free time.

Appleby has a Lamborghini Gallardo at home in Florida, so fast cars are nothing new. He drove in a five-day road race in Tasmania from May 1, shared time with another driver and finished 10th. After the race, Appleby came to this conclusion: "The car has got a fair bit more potential than I have."

Daly got on stage at a nearby restaurant with his acoustic guitar and belted out "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" among four numbers before a packed house on Wednesday.

Singing and playing guitar is nothing new for Daly, who released a CD a few years ago called "My Life," which featured such blockbuster hits as "All My Exes Wear Rolexes."

"I'm about a 20 (handicap) when it comes to doing that stuff," Daly said.

He's much better inside the ropes, especially of late. Two weeks ago, Daly birdied the last hole to get into a playoff with Singh at the Houston Open, but his tee shot took a hard bounce into the water on the first extra hole.

Daly didn't always keep it in the short grass at Cottonwood Valley, but a change in his putter to a more upright lie has put his underrated short game back in order. He took only 26 putts.

Els doesn't do anything unusual off the golf course except for a wine business and some golf course design. The Big Easy won this tournament 10 years ago, and thinks it might be a springboard for a run to the U.S. Open.

"I felt comfortable over the ball. I felt like I hit the ball solid," Els said. "The fairways I missed, I wasn't too far away, and the greens I missed, I wasn't too far away."