Sergio Garcia of Spain carded a bogey-free 7-under-par 63 to tie for the lead with Danny Lee of New Zealand and Johnson Wagner after one round of the AT&T Byron Nelson at TPC Las Colinas in Irving, Texas.
Garcia shot 6-under 35 as he finished on the front nine, including four birdies and a58-foot eagle putt on the seventh hole.
“Texas has always been good to me,” said Garcia, who won the Byron Nelson in 2004 and also captured the 2001 Colonial in the Lone Star State. “I’ve done fairly well pretty much every time I played here. … It just kind of brings me to my comfort level, I guess.
“I have been playing decent and obviously I still feel like I can play better. Hopefully I can keep this momentum going and have a good solid week before the U.S. Open (next month).”
Lee birdied his first three holes after starting at No. 10 and Wagner had four birdies on the front nine as both also had bogey-free 63s.
Second-ranked Jordan Spieth chipped in front 25 feet to kick-start his 64 and was tied
for fourth with Dustin Johnson, who holed his second shot from 101 yards for an eagle on No. 4, Freddie Jacobson of Sweden and Tom Hoge, who was still on the course at 6-under when darkness halted play.
James Hahn of Alameda and Cal, who won the Wells Fargo Championship two weeks ago, shot 65 and was tied for eighth with Matt Kuchar, Scott Piercy, Ben Crane, Robert Garrigus, Martin Flores, Charles Howell III, Brooks Koepka and Bud Cauley, who had played 13 holes when the end came.
Play was delayed for 2½ hours by torrential rain in the morning.
