Padraig Harrington opens three shot advantage

Padraig Harrington is a newcomer to the Nissan Open, still not sure when to hit the brakes and when to fire at the flags. He chose the latter Thursday and zoomed past Phil Mickelson and everyone else at Riviera with an 8-under 63.

Harrington opened with three straight birdies. He ran off four in a row after making the turn, and even picked one up on the tough 15th hole when his 5-iron hit the pin and settled 4 feet away.

His only bogey came from a three-putt on the par-3 14th, and the Irishman had a reasonable explanation for that.

"At this stage, I'm feeling invincible," he said. "I didn't think I was ever not going to make birdie."

It gave him a three-shot lead over Mickelson and Briny Baird among the early starters, with Jim Furyk another shot behind on a spectacular day of sunshine and shotmaking on the storied course off Sunset Boulevard.

Mickelson is playing for the first time since 2001 at Riviera, where he has never had much success. But coming off a five-shot victory at Pebble Beach where he tied the tournament scoring record, he kept right on rolling with a bogey-free 66. He hit only six fairways, but the rough is negligible this week, and Mickelson wasn't off by much.

His only disappointment was being three shots behind.

"It's a little humbling to shoot what I thought was a good round and then get lapped," Mickelson said.

Vijay Singh started eagle-birdie, but a couple of late bogeys brought him a 68. Retief Goosen made only seven pars in his round of 71.

Mickelson played with Ernie Els, one of several international stars making their '07 PGA Tour debut this week. The Big Easy labored to keep the ball in the fairway, but escaped with enough clutch pars -- getting up-and-down from 90 yards on his final hole -- for a 69 that left him pleased, although tongue-tied.

He noted that Mickelson played "awful," then quickly corrected himself.

"Awesome. I think that's the word you use," Els said with a laugh.

For Harrington, call it blissful ignorance. He first saw Riviera a few years ago on his way to the Target World Challenge in December and loved it. But as he looked back over his round, he realized there were nuances to the course that he still hasn't learned, and was thankful he didn't pay for it in the opening round.

He played two practice rounds, and both times hit driver and a 6-iron on the 463-yard hole, traditionally one of the toughest. But with the fairways running fast and firm, he was stunned to his see his drive land in the narrow neck of the fairway, leaving him only a 9-iron into the green to within 4 feet.

"If I had known I was going to do that, I wouldn't have been hitting my driver off the tee," he said.

Ditto for the 434-yard fifth hole, where the fairway ends after about 280 yards and drops down a shaggy hill. Harrington's tee shot went 277 yards, leaving him another short iron to 10 feet for birdie.

"There again is a hole that maybe I have to be a little less aggressive on for the rest of the week," he said.

But it worked out beautifully for him Thursday, although the Irishman is smart enough to pay for attention to the day of the week than the number on his scorecard.

"The good thing about shooting 63 is I'll be able to make some mistakes and still compete in this tournament," he said.

At this rate, he'll likely find Mickelson along the way.

They were on opposite sides of the golf course in the first round, starting out in crisp morning conditions that made the greens so firm it was difficult to find pitch marks until the sun and temperatures began to rise.

Even though it has been six years since Mickelson has been to Riviera, he still remembers a few tricks. With a back right pin on the short but tricky 10th hole, Mickelson still pounded a driver that landed on the green some 315 yards away and into a back bunker. His logic was to hit beyond the green, because it slopes to the back.

"Where I was, I at least had a chance to stop it," Mickelson said, and he left himself an 8-footer he made for birdie. "I haven't played here in (six) years, and it's pretty obvious you've got to get past the hole."

Someone told him that club officials might restore a ditch that once ran behind the green.

"Well, then, it looks like this one won't be back on the rotation," Mickelson said, pausing for effect. "Just kidding."