Four top opening day leaderboard

A red-hot Phil Mickelson fired an eight-under-par 64 to grab a share of the first-round lead at the Doral Open as Tiger Woods lurked one shot back on Thursday.

Mickelson, who arrived in Miami after back-to-back wins in Phoenix and Pebble Beach, was quickly back in form with four late birdies to join Spain's Jose Maria Olazabal, Briton Brian Davis and American Marco Dawson atop the leaderboard.

Doral's Blue course, better known as the Blue Monster, did not prove very scary in benign conditions as Olazabal, Davis and Dawson carded bogey-free rounds.

Despite hitting only five fairways, Woods also produced an unblemished round to sit one shot back thanks to a hot putter.

Mickelson experienced an inconsistent start with two birdies and a bogey over his first six holes.

The U.S. Masters champion suddenly caught fire on the seventh, however, scorching the final 12 holes with eight birdies.

"It's nice to play well, especially when the field is so strong," Mickelson told reporters. "I know that the field is so strong and you've got guys like Tiger and Vijay (Singh) and Retief (Goosen) and Mike Weir and David Toms, guys who are making a lot of birdies and have the ability to shoot 62 or 63.

"When I'm out there I find myself pushing to go lower than four or five under because I know it just isn't going to cut it with those guys in the field."

While Mickelson's name at the top of the leaderboard has become a common sight, the three men alongside him left some in the galleries searching through programs and newspapers for information.

The 1999 U.S. Masters champion, Olazabal has failed to win on the PGA or European Tours for over three years and needed a sponsor's invitation to get into the $5.5 million event.

Davis, who posted his top PGA result with a tie for third at the rain-hit Nissan Open two weeks ago, and Dawson, playing in his first Tour event in 10 months after missing most of last season with a back injury, have yet to make make their names.

Woods started a tournament for the third consecutive week in position to reclaim the world number one ranking from Singh, and he immediately put pressure on the Fijian.

While Woods's driver failed him during the opening round his putter came to his rescue.

The eight-times major winner one-putted the last seven holes, including a tricky 15-footer on the last, to extend his run to 60 holes without a bogey here.

"This golf course has been nice to me," Woods said. "I've played well here the times that I have played. It's fun to play this golf course.

"I know that it's always fun to get on to the Florida Swing, get some smooth greens again and we can start making putts again which is nice. Today was a perfect example of that, 18 was nice to make.

"It was nice to actually end up on a good note. Good putting makes up for a lot of sins."

Singh, meanwhile, struggled through first his nine but salvaged his round after the turn by finishing birdie-birdie to go four under and sit just four off the pace alongside Sergio Garcia and 16 others.

South Africa's Goosen quietly played himself into contention with a five-under 67 and Australia's Craig Parry opened the defence of his title with a three-under 69.

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