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Mickelson & Furyk share day one lead

Defending champion Phil Mickelson posted a five-under 65 on Thursday to join Jim Furyk atop the leaderboard after one round of the Colonial.

Brian Gay is alone in third at four-under par, followed by Mark Brooks, David Toms and 1995 Colonial champion Tom Lehman at minus-three.

Mickelson opened the round with two birdies at the Colonial Country Club, including a 35-footer at the second. He parred the next seven holes before he closed his front nine with a birdie for a 32.

The second-ranked player in the world parred the first three holes of the second nine before he made his first mistake of the round. Mickelson missed the green with a six-iron at the par-three 13th and failed to get up and down to save par.

Mickelson grabbed his share of the lead with three birdies in a row to close his round. He drained a 20-footer at 16, and then played a nine-iron to within eight feet to set up a birdie at 17. Mickelson finished the round in style with a 35-foot birdie on 18 to join Furyk.

The lefthander overcame seven strokes on Sunday last year to defeat Stewart Cink and Davis Love III by two shots. With a victory this year, Mickelson can become only the second player in tournament history to win the championship in consecutive years.

"I have some confidence this year that maybe carries over from last year," Mickelson said. "I'm reading the greens well. I felt confident and I made some long ones to put me in this position."

Furyk started on the back nine and carded five birdies before he reached the "horrible horseshoe" - holes three through five at Colonial. He saved par with a four-footer at three but dropped shots at the next two.

Furyk dropped his tee shot at the 246-yard fourth into a greenside bunker and failed to get up and down from 15 feet. He missed the green short and right at five with the same result.

He bounced back at six when he ran home a 25-foot birdie putt and then roped a four-iron to six feet at eight to set up his final birdie of the round

"They are just tough golf holes and I didn't hit the best of shots," said Furyk, referring to holes three through five. "That's going to happen sometimes on those holes. You have to get over it. I made a couple of birdies on the way in and that's nice."

Bob Estes, Glen Day, Scott McCarron, Kirk Triplett, Brent Geiberger, Fulton Allem, Stephen Ames, Senior Tour member Tom Kite and 1996 champion Corey Pavin are knotted in seventh at minus-two.

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