Adam Scott & Fredrik Jacobsen share lead - Stanford St. Jude Championship 2007

Looking to build some momentum, the world's fourth-ranked golfer shot a 3-under 67 to tie Fredrik Jacobson atop the leaderboard Thursday at the Stanford St. Jude Open. The two had a one-stroke lead after an opening round in which only seven golfers were under par at TPC Southwind.

"I need a win, there's no doubt about that," said Scott, who got his fifth career victory April 1 at the Shell Houston Open.

"I'm here to stay fresh and stay competitive. I like that feeling of going from Sunday night here to only waiting three days to play my next competitive round. And the more that I'm in contention, the better I'll be served if I'm going to be in contention next week at the U.S. Open."

With steady winds gusting to 32 mph testing club selection and even the ability to stand over a putt, the TPC Southwind course certainly provided a grinding test that should dispel any last thoughts that this is a place to go low and birdie every hole.

Seven golfers under par is the fewest ever at this event and compares to 24 after one round a year ago. The 3-under 67 also is the highest score by a first-round leader here since Fuzzy Zoeller's 2-under 70 in 1986.

"My goal here is to get myself in contention and deal with the nerves and pressure of coming down the stretch," Scott said.

With 54 holes left, that remains to be seen with a field that features six of the world's top 12 also here using this tournament as an Open tuneup. The scoring average of 74.188 to par tied the Masters for the highest first-round in relation to par this year at plus 4.188.

"It was really U.S. Open-type stuff," Scott Verplank said. "Par was a good score on every hole. The conditions were so difficult with the wind blowing like that. (I'm) very happy to shoot under par."

Retief Goosen and Brian Gay opened with 68s. Verplank, Gavin Coles and Duffy Waldorf shot 69s. John Daly, playing on a sponsor's exemption, was in a group of 11 at even-par 70.

Goosen was the only one to play a bogey-free round on the 7,239-yard course that ranked behind only Winged Foot, site of last year's U.S. Open, as toughest on tour in 2006.

"I hit a lot of greens in regulation, which is nice, and the greens are tricky too. Tough pins out there as well with this wind. So very happy with the round," he said.

Scott started with a double-bogey on his second hole and finished with a bogey, eagle and four birdies. Jacobson took advantage of somewhat calmer conditions in the second threesome off No. 10 with five birdies and two bogeys.

"Anybody that shoots under par today will be really happy with where they are at the moment, and I feel that I'm right where I want to be," Jacobson said.

Vijay Singh, who tied for 13th here in 1992, had a 72. Sergio Garcia and Padraig Harrington each shot 74 in their first visits here.

"I really am not familiar with where to hit it off the tees and all that, so I drove the ball pretty decent today and hopefully (Friday) I can get it going," Singh said.

Daly has made only three cuts this year and withdrawn from three. He had the roller-coaster round of the day with a triple-bogey 7 on No. 12 where he hit into the lake twice. But he had five straight birdies that included holing out from 53 feet from a greenside bunker on the par-3 14th.

He said his shoulder is feeling better after some rest.

"It's nice to go hit the ball halfway decent. No matter how good I hit it ... you've got to get under par. That's how tough it is," he said.

It's no surprise that Jacobson has a share of his first PGA Tour round here where he had his best finish by tying for third in 2003. This is the Swede's ninth straight week after taking more than seven months to recuperate from wrist surgery.

He tied for fifth last week at the Memorial used his putter Thursday to hole out for birdie twice from 15 feet on Nos. 11 and 16. He made a 20-footer on the 196-yard, par-3 fourth, and a 4-footer on No. 5 before missing from that length on No. 8 for a bogey that cost him the outright lead.

But Scott had the morning tee time for Friday's second round with afternoon scattered storms in the forecast. He said he hoped to go below par again to force people to chase him.

"There's that opportunity, but I take it a shot at a time right now. There's 54 holes to go, plenty of golf to play," he said.