Briny Baird scorched the TPC at Summerlin on Thursday with a course record-equalling 10-under 62, while Ryan Palmer posted a 62 at the TPC at The Canyons in the first round of the Michelin Championship.
Baird held the edge in relation to par in the four million-dollar tournament, since The Canyons is a par-71 layout.
That meant Palmer's course record-equalling effort put him at 9-under, along with Charles Howell who shot a 63 at Summerlin.
Both courses are used over the first two rounds of the tournament, with Summerlin used for the weekend rounds.
Palmer, who had seven birdies and an eagle in a bogey-free round, became the sixth golfer to shoot 62 at The Canyons. Jack Nicklaus (1963) also accomplished the feat.
Beginning on the back nine at Summerlin, the 33-year-old Baird - whose best result on the PGA Tour was a second-place finish at the 2001 John Deere Classic - recorded four birdies and an eagle for a 30 at the turn.
He then added four more birdies without a bogey on his final nine holes to match the record achieved by a number of golfers, most recently Scott McCarron and Scott Verplank in 2003.
Howell also was not challenged by the Summerlin course, registering seven birdies and an eagle without losing a shot to par.
Two shots behind Baird were Justin Leonard, Michael Allen, Kevin Stadler, Bart Bryant and Scott Gutschewski.
Leonard fired a 63 at The Canyons, while the other four of the quintet carded 64s at Summerlin.
"The pace was better today," Leonard said. "Nice tournament starts make things easier. I'd rather play Summerlin in winds compared to the Canyons."
The 46-year-old Allen, whose best result this year was a tie for sixth at the BC Open, bogeyed the second hole at Summerlin but birdied four of the next five en route to reaching the turn at 32. He then nabbed four more birdies without a bogey on the back nine.
"I love competing more than I ever have," Allen said. "I'm in better shape than I've ever been in, but it takes a while to recover."
While Leonard had eight birdies during a bogey-free round, Stadler had a wild round that featured three eagles - including an ace on the par-three 14th - four birdies and two bogeys.
"I played real steady," said Leonard, who sank a bunker shot on the second hole. "To start out eight-under, I'm pleased."
Hunter Haas (Summerlin), Tjaart van der Walt of South Africa (The Canyons) and Ryuji Imada of Japan (The Canyons) were all at seven-under.
Phil Mickelson, who has done nothing of note since winning the PGA Championship two months ago, finished at four-under 67 at The Canyons.
Only one of his 27 career PGA Tour victories has come after August. This season, Mickelson has finished 51st, 28th and 29th in three events since his win at Baltusrol.
John Daly, who lost last week's World Golf Championships American Express Championship to Tiger Woods in a playoff, carded a three-under 68 at The Canyons.
LEADING FIRST-ROUND SCORES (USA unless noted):
62 - Briny Baird, Ryan Palmer
63 - Charles Howell, Justin Leonard
64 - Michael Allen, Bart Bryant, Scott Gutschewski, Kevin Stadler, Ryuji Imada (JPN), Tjaart Van Der Walt (RSA)
65 - Hunter Haas, Billy Andrade, Jason Gore, Paul Goydos, Will MacKenzie, Shigeki Maruyama (JPN), Geoff Ogilvy (AUS), Tom Pernice
66 - John Senden (AUS), Hidemichi Tanaka (JPN)
67 - Stuart Appleby (AUS), David Hearn (CAN), Brendan Jones (AUS), Stephen Leaney (AUS), Rod Pampling (AUS), Jesper Parnevik (SWE), Rory Sabbatini (RSA)
68 - Gavin Coles (AUS), Scott Hend (AUS), Carl Pettersson (SWE), Robert Allenby (AUS), John Daly, Phillip Price (GBR)
69 - Padraig Harrington (IRL), Mark Hensby (AUS)
70 - Alex Cejka (GER), Daniel Chopra (SWE), Thomas Levet (FRA), Ian Poulter (GBR), Lee Westwood (GBR)
71 - Paul Gow (AUS), Greg Owen (GBR), Craig Perks (NZL)
72 - Aaron Baddeley (AUS)
73 - Michael Long (NZL)
76 - Steve Allan (AUS).
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