Appleby leads Byron Nelson Championship

Stuart Appleby reeled off eight birdies, and needed just 22 putts, in a seven-under-par 63 to lead by one stroke from Ernie Els, John Daly and Brett Wetterich after the first round of the Byron Nelson Championship in Texas.

But all the big names were in contention, with Vijay Singh shooting a 68, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson 69s, Retief Goosen 70, while defending champion Sergio Garcia carded a 71.

Appleby won the season-opening Mercedes Championship but has been very quiet since. But he has had some off-course distractions as his wife gave birth to their first child in January.

Meanwhile Els continued the fine form he displayed to win by 13 strokes on the European Tour in China two weeks ago.

“I’m really happy with that,” the South African said. “I felt comfortable over the ball and the fairways and greens I missed weren’t far away.

“Now I’m working on the right stuff, I’ve got to keep doing that and just keep grinding.”