Luke Donald leads with record 62 - AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am 2006

Luke Donald was in the group ahead when Phil Mickelson blistered Spyglass Hill last year for a course-record 62. He remembers being amazed at the score, and hearing how it would be a long time before anyone else could do that at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

"It only took 365 days," Donald said Thursday. "I'm glad it was me."

Taking advantage of weather that approached perfection, Donald holed out for eagle from 96 yards, strung together birdies and wound up matching Mickelson's record with a 10-under 62 to take a one-shot lead over Mike Weir.

Not many could recall conditions so pure at Pebble Beach, where there was no trace of a cloud or a breeze and temperatures were pushing 80 degrees.

No one remembered Spyglass being such a pushover, either.

Traditionally the toughest among the three courses at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, it yielded the lowest scoring as the first round headed for a conclusion.

It still required good golf, and Donald delivered. After missing a 10-foot birdie putt on his opening hole, No. 10, he ran off three straight birdies, one of those a 45-foot putt on the par-3 12th. Then came his sand wedge from 96 yards to a hole location on the front shelf of the green that dropped for eagle, and another birdie on the 15th.

"Not much was going wrong," Donald said. "I didn't really threaten to make bogey today and kept it in play."

His round went so well that when he hit 6-iron into 12 feet on the ninth hole, it was the same putt he had on Wednesday during a practice round, so he knew the break. And he knew what it meant.

"I knew that was for 62," he said.

And he remembers what happened last year. Mickelson followed that 62 by going wire-to-wire at Pebble Beach, taking a seven-shot lead into the final round.

But Mickelson already had a three-shot lead after the first round. Donald was only one ahead of Weir, who recovered from a sloppy start to make five straight birdies along Stillwater Cove. He missed only one fairway and two greens, and the only thing he didn't get with a 63 was the lead.

"I knew there was going to be some low scores today," Weir said. "But 10 under at Spyglass? I thought of the lower scores, there might be more on this golf course than the other two. But Luke obviously played a great round over at Spyglass to do that."

The low score at Poppy Hills, usually the easiest of the three courses because it has five par 5s, came from Arron Oberholser. He responded to back-to-back bogeys with laughter, then ran off four birdies over his next five holes and finished with a 7-under 65.

He was joined by Michael Allen (Spyglass) and Nick Watney (Pebble Beach).

Mickelson, meanwhile, looks like he will end a dubious streak at this tournament -- the last four defending champions at Pebble Beach have missed the cut. Lefty was headed that direction with a double bogey on his third hole at Poppy Hills, making the turn in 37. But he finished with a flourish -- birdie-birdie-eagle -- for a 67 and was tied for 10th.

One week after J.B. Holmes hammered his way to victory in Phoenix with a driver and a wedge, Donald showed there is still room for someone who tidily navigates his way around the golf course. Clearly, Spyglass or any of the other courses at Pebble require more than just bashing the ball.

He fit his drives through the tree-lined fairways, kept his middle irons on the greens and made a bunch of putts to break his career-low round on the PGA Tour by two shots. Donald played behind Bubba Watson, another basher, who shot 1-over 73.

"You see some of his drives ... if I could hit it that far, this game would be easy," Donald said. "But you still have to get the ball in the hole."

He twice holed putts longer than 30 feet, which always helps. And the biggest help of all was Mother Nature, who allowed the peninsula to shine like never before. More than 100 players in the 180-man field broke par, meaning Donald had plenty of work left the rest of the week.

"With the conditions, all the courses are there to make some birdies," Donald said. "I think the scoring is going to be good this week if the weather stays like this. Sixty-two is a great start, but it's not like the tournament is over. I have to keep playing solid golf. Hopefully, I can do what Phil did last year."