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Aussie goes way under

Stuart Appleby shot a 7-under-par 63 to take the first-round lead at the Byron Nelson Classic at Irving, Texas. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Associated Press
Stuart Appleby shot a 7-under-par 63 to take the first-round lead at the Byron Nelson Classic at Irving, Texas. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)

Stuart Appleby birdied his first two holes and kept right on rolling Thursday to a 7-under-par 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 at 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.

If it seems like Appleby has disappeared since winning the 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 less than his typical schedule.

LPGA Tour

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 at Stockbridge, Ga., leaving her 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 wins, topped a group at 68.

Wendy Ward of Edwall, Wash., is tied for 14th after a 69.

PGA European 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 at 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.

TV golf event July 25

In what could be the final installment of Monday night golf exhibitions, Tiger Woods and John Daly will take on Phil Mickelson and Retief Goosen in the “Battle at the Bridges.”

Organizers had hoped to get the “Big Four” for the July 25 match at The Bridges at Rancho Santa Fe (Calif.). Instead, they got three of the top five in the world rankings, plus the ever-popular Daly.