Martin Laird has 73 in FBR Open at Scottsdale, Arizona

Aussie rookie Nitties shares lead as Phil

Mickelsons struggles to a 76

Australian rookie James Nitties, 26, shares the lead with Lucas Glover on the six-under-par 65 mark after the first round of the FBR Open at TPC Scottsdale in Arizona.
But Phil Mickelson, making his seasonal debut, did not fare so well. Twice he had bad drives into the cacti-strewen desert. A local favourite, the left-hander had a 76 which left him tied for 121st place.
Just as in Dubai, bad light stopped play but not with so many players still out on the course - nine to be precise at Scottsdale.
Mickelson finished with two double bogeys and three bogeys and only two birdies on sunny but quite windy day.
Mickelson won at TPC Scottsdale in 1996 and 2005 and lost a title play-off last year.
"It doesn't feel as far off as the score indicates," Mickelson said. "I know the score is ridiculous. But it doesn't feel bad."
The highlight of Mickelson's day may have been a brief meeting with former President George H.W. Bush as Mickelson's group approached the 15th green. Bush also shook hands with Mickelson's partners, Justin Leonard and Zach Johnson.
Bush was part of a crowd of 71,907, which fell more than 11,000 short of last year's opening-round record. The FBR Open is normally the US Tour's most heavily attended event.
David Berganio Jr. and Charley Hoffman were tied for third, one stroke off the lead, with Brin Baird, Kevin Na and Matt Kuchar two strokes off the pace.
TPC Scottsdale has a long history of low scores; two years ago but the opening round confirmed that the course was tougher this year.
Asked if he felt the fairways had been tightened, Baird replied, "No question. That's a fact. They've pinched fairways in. The rough is definitely up from years past, so they're trying to toughen it up," Baird said. "If that's what they wanted, then they've been successful."
The tougher course didn't pose many problems for Nitties, who hit only seven of 14 fairways, Nitties posted five birdies in a six-hole stretch on the outward half and finished his round with back-to-back birdies.
"I really didn't get into too much trouble all day, and if I did, I'd sort of make the smart decision and it sort of worked together well," said Nitties whose name was listed as "Nittles" in the official pairings sheet.
Nitties contended for a spot on the PGA TOUR two years ago, but his arthritis flared up, and he spent nearly a month in a Texas hospital with pain in his right hip and knee. He was diagnosed with reactive arthritis, a chronic condition where fluid builds up in the joints.
Nitties bounced back last year and finished second at Q-school in December.
The Australian shot a 10-under 62 at the Bob Hope Classic last week but still missed the cut in California by one shot.
"Drawing on that, it was good, positive striking and golf to bring me into this week," he said.
This is the fifth time Glover, whose one US Tour victory came four years ago, has had at least a share of the first-round lead. He failed to win each of the first four times.
Glover birdied four of the last six holes. He had only one bogey, on the par-4 17th.
"It was pretty solid," Glover said. "I hit a lot of fairways, a lot of first cuts, actually, and only had a couple in the high stuff. I made a couple nice birdie putts and then made a couple key par putts and played the par 5s well. That usually equals a pretty good score, so I was pretty pleased, obviously."
Scot Martin Laird had a two-over-par 73 - three better than England's Luke Donald.

FIRST ROUND SCOREBOARD
(Nine players to finish)
Par 71
65 Lucas Glover, James Nitties (Aus)
66 Charley Hoffman, David Berganio jun.
67 Kevin Na, Matt Kuchar, Briny Baird
68 Brad Adamonis, Jonathan Kaye, Brian Gay, John Senden (Aus), Kevin Sutherland, Bubba Watson, Parker McLachlin, Cliff Kresge, Webb Simpson, George McNeill, Cameron Beckman, Rocco Mediate, D.J. Trahan
69 Pat Perez, Vaughn Taylor, Steve Flesch, Woody Austin, David Toms, Scott Piercy, Heath Slocum, Dean Wilson, Aaron Baddeley (Aus), J J Henry, Sean O'Hair, Brett Quigley, Jason Gore, Ryan Moore
70 Nick Watney, Kirk Triplett, Paul Azinger, Michael Letzig, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus), Tim Wilkinson (Nzl), Chad Campbell, Justin Leonard, Stephen Ames (Can), Scott McCarron, Mark Wilson, Steve Elkington (Aus), Michael Allen, Jeff Maggert, J.B. Holmes, Mathew Goggin (Aus), Troy Matteson
71 Ben Curtis, Charles Howell III, Tim Petrovic, Bo Van Pelt, Jason Bohn, Dudley Hart, Jerry Kelly, Tim Herron, Zach Johnson, Joe Ogilvie, Steve Lowery, Ted Purdy, Brian Bateman, Bob Tway, Alex Cejka (Ger), John Rollins, Jarrod Lyle (Aus), Chris Couch, Carl Pettersson (Swe)
72 Brandt Jobe, Rodney Pampling (Aus), Rory Sabbatini (Rsa), John Merrick, John Mallinger, Tommy Armour III, Kenny Perry, Dustin Johnson, Fredrik Jacobson (Swe), Wes Short jun, Camilo Villegas (Col), Jonathan Byrd, Brandt Snedeker, Nicholas Thompson
73 Harrison Frazar, Chez Reavie, Steve Marino, Nathan Green (Aus), Ryan Palmer, Mike Weir (Can), Martin Laird (Sco), Rickie Fowler, Brian Davis (Eng), Arron Oberholser, Chris DiMarco, Stewart Cink, Peter Lonard (Aus), Kevin Streelman, Hunter Mahan, Anthony Kim, Scott Verplank
74 Steve Stricker, Ben Crane, Mark Calcavecchia, Bill Haas, Todd Hamilton, Tom Lehman, Matt Bettencourt, Fred Couples
75 Ryuji Imada (Jpn), Marc Turnesa, Jesper Parnevik (Swe)
76 Phil Mickelson, Ken Duke, Luke Donald (Eng), Johnson Wagner, Stuart Appleby (Aus)
77 Dean Vomacka, Billy Mayfair, Eric Axley, David Duval
78 Daniel Chopra (Swe)
79 Angel Cabrera (Arg)