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Verplank leads after opening 62

Scott Verplank fired a bogey-free, eight-under- par 62 at Cottonwood Valley Golf Course Thursday for the early lead at the Byron Nelson Classic. The 36-year-old Verplank, who was born and raised in Dallas, tied his career-low round and holds a two-shot advantage over David Duval, Chris Riley and Tim Herron.

Russ Cochran, Bob May, Jason Gore and Billy Mayfair are three shots off the lead after 65s.

The players in the field alternate between the Cottonwood Valley and TPC at Las Colinas courses over the first two days, with play moving to the TPC layout for the weekend rounds. Twenty of the players in the top 21 toured Cottonwood Valley on Thursday, including 1997 Byron Nelson champion Tiger Woods, who is making his first start since winning his fourth consecutive major championship at last month's Masters.

Woods collected six birdies but suffered a double-bogey at the par-four eighth after he was forced to take an unplayable lie due to an errant drive. He finished with a four-under 66, seven shots better than his opening round from last year.

He went on to post a closing 63 last year but finished one shot out of the playoff between Davis Love III, Phil Mickelson and winner Jesper Parnevik.

Verplank, who tied for 25th in 2000, already had two birdies under his belt when he hole his bunker shot at the par-four seventh.

"I was a little concerned whether or not I could even get it up-and-down, and I hit a nice shot and got lucky and it went in," said Verplank, who added another birdie at the ninth for a front-nine 30.

He birdied the 11th, 12th and 16th, then hit his tee shot to eight feet for a final birdie at the par-three 17th.

Verplank, a three-time PGA Tour winner who titled at the Reno-Tahoe Open last year, was a standard bearer for the Byron Nelson Classic when it was hosted by Preston Trail Golf Club in the mid-1970s. He also played a handful of rounds with the tournament's namesake while still an amateur.

"Byron has been a great friend to me," Verplank said. "He helped when I was a kid. He would give me lessons when I was late in high school and he's just been great to me."

Woods, who would extend his streak of consecutive victories to four with a win this week, is not concerned with the fact that he has still yet to play the TPC at Las Colinas, which played almost two strokes harder than Cottonwood Valley on Thursday.

"Generally these golf courses aren't set up extremely difficult," said Woods. If the wind doesn't come up, this golf course is defenseless and the guys just -- we all go low. A bad round can be a couple under par, but if the wind's up, it's howling, it's tough to get a feel for your distance control."

Defending champion Parnevik experienced a roller-coaster round at the TPC Thursday that saw him finish with an even-par 70.

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