Appleby fires opening 63, takes lead at Nelson Championship

IRVING, Texas -- Stuart Appleby birdied his first two holes and kept right on rolling Thursday to a 7-under 63 on the TPC at Las Colinas, giving him a one-shot lead over John Daly, Ernie Els and Brett Wetterich in the Byron Nelson Championship in Irving, Texas.

Els, coming off a 13-stroke victory two weeks ago in Shanghai, and Wetterich also played the TPC course, while Daly opened on the easier Cottonwood Valley course.

Els was the only member of the Big Five who showed up on the leaderboard on a good day for scoring, with cloud cover and moderate wind.

Vijay Singh, a winner in two of his last three tournaments, shot a 68 in a group with Els. Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson opened with 69s on the TPC course and Retief Goosen was another stroke back after a 70.

LPGA Tour

STOCKBRIDGE, Ga. (AP) -- Annika Sorenstam was back in her comfort zone -- making birdies, staying out of trouble and looking to get started on a new winning streak.

Sorenstam shot a bogey-free 67 in the first round of the Chick-fil-A Charity Championship in Stockbridge, Ga., leaving her just a stroke behind leader Laura Davies.

Karrie Webb and Giulia Sergas joined Sorenstam at 67, and Cristie Kerr, coming off a victory at Kingsmill last weekend that snapped Sorenstam's record-tying run of five straight LPGA Tour wins, topped a group at 68.

European PGA Tour

Scotland's Colin Montgomerie made a triple-bogey 7 on his final hole, costing him a share of the lead in the British Masters in Meriden, England.

Englishmen David Howell, Brian Davis, David Lynn and Ben Mason opened with 3-under 69s on the Forest of Arden course. Montgomerie ended up with a 72, driving into the trees on No. 9 and three-putting from 2 1/2 feet.