Robert Allenby leads the first day with 63

An error by the volunteer keeping Allenby's unofficial scorecard had him finishing Wednesday's first round of the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic with a 60, just one shot off the PGA Tour record of 59.

Allenby actually shot a 9-under 63, still good enough for a two-shot lead.

He kept his card correctly during the round and was able to chuckle about the scoring mishap. The unidentified volunteer apparently credited him with two eagles, while Allenby had nine birdies, no bogeys and no eagles.

"The scorekeeper was trying to be nice to me. Every time I made a birdie, he came up trying to shake my hand," Allenby said. "He was a bit nervous, came up to me on the second hole and said, `Oh, I can't believe I'm scoring for you.'

"I'm like, `OK, settle down, no worries. Let's have a good time out here but let's not get too carried away.' And then obviously the Golf Channel thought I was trying to shoot 59 or 60, probably like everyone else. But I knew what was going on."

Mark Calcavecchia and Craig Kanada were tied for second at 65 after the first 18 holes of the five-day tournament.

Phil Mickelson made his 2007 debut with a 70, and defending champion Chad Campbell also had a 70.

The scoring error was just one part of an unusual day for Allenby. After the start was delayed anywhere from half an hour to an hour because of frost on each of the four courses used for the tournament, he began his round at La Quinta Country Club around 11 a.m., an hour later than scheduled.

Overnight temperatures dipped to 27 degrees and it was in the 30s when play was scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. as a record cold snap continued in Southern California.

Allenby began on the back nine of the 7,060-yard La Quinta layout, was 4 under by the turn, then made five more birdies.

His putter, which he had forgotten in his hotel room but had time to retrieve because of the frost delay, carried him.

Three of his birdies came from within 4 feet of the hole, but he made several 20-30 footers, including rolling in two from around 25 feet to birdie his final two holes.

"I took everything to the room last night and forgot to put the putter back into my bag," Allenby said. "I came all the way out to the golf course and realized it wasn't there, so I sent my trainer back to get it."

The 35-year-old Allenby is coming off an eighth place finish in Hawaii last weekend. A native of Melbourne, Australia, he first played on the tour in 1993. He won twice in both 2000 and 2001.

Mickelson, the Hope champion in 2002 and 2004, started his day with a birdie at La Quinta, then went bogey-bogey-double bogey.

"It was erratic," he said of his first round of the year. "I hit a lot of great shots. I hit a lot of poor shots. It was a good round of 2-under par.

"After being 3 over through four holes, to come back and shoot under par, I'll gladly take that."

He finished with seven birdies, three bogeys and the double bogey.