Associated Press
Friday, March 31, 2006; E03
Phil Mickelson is off to a fast start in his bid for a third BellSouth Classic title -- and made it clear that he's in top form for the Masters.
Mickelson tied the tournament's course record yesterday in Duluth, Ga. He shot a 9-under 63 to take a one-shot lead over Gavin Coles in the first round of the final tuneup for Augusta.
Mickelson birdied six of the first seven holes.
"It was a fun day, a fun start," Mickelson said. "I birdied the first couple of holes and was off and running.
"I looked up and I was 6 under through seven. That was a good feeling."
Mickelson has a one-stroke lead over Gavin Coles, whose career-best 64 set the morning pace.
Charles Warren is third at 7-under 65, followed by Joe Durant, Ian Poulter and Scott Parel at 66. Parel made a 21-foot birdie putt on 18 for his 66.
Mickelson, the defending champion, missed a six-foot birdie putt on the 18th green that would have set a tournament record at the TPC at Sugarloaf in this Atlanta suburb.
There have been three other 63s since the tournament moved to Sugarloaf in 1997: Tiger Woods in 1998; Duffy Waldorf in 1999; and Ben Crane in 2003.
In 1979, when the tournament was held at the Atlanta Country Club, Andy Bean shot a record 61.
Of the group of four who set or shared course records for a round, only Waldorf did not win that year's tournament.
Coles, 37, is trying to save his PGA Tour card.
Coles' career-best finish in a PGA event was a tie for seventh in the 2005 Houston Open. He finished out of the top 125 in winnings last season and would have lost his tour card, but he received a five-event medical exemption after missing about two months with a broken rib.
With the exemption, Coles has five 2006 events to earn the $267,213 needed to lift his 2005 earnings to the top 125. Through his first two events, Coles earned only $7,680.
· EUROPEAN TOUR : Paul Broadhurst began defense of his Open de Portugal title with an 8-under-par 64 to tie the course record at Le Meridien Penina Golf and Resort on the Algarve.
The 39-year-old Englishman had seven birdies, an eagle and one dropped shot to take a one-stroke lead over Swedish rookie Christian Nilsson, who had 10 birdies and three bogeys. France's Christian Cevaer is another stroke back.
"I'm absolutely chuffed to bits," Broadhurst told reporters. "I didn't know what to expect going out, although I was hitting it well on the range. But I'm still not 100 percent when it comes to the long irons."