NEW YORK, Oct 14: American Briny Baird, battling to keep his PGA Tour card, fired a sizzling 10-under 62 to grab the first round lead at the Las Vegas championships on Thursday.

Currently 132 on the money list and needing to finish among the top-125 earners to keep his card, Baird played as if his career was on the line returning a flawless 62 that included eight birdies and an eagle on the par-five 16th at the TPC at Summerlin.

Summerlin, one of two courses being used for the opening two rounds of the $4 million event, plays at a par 72 while the TPC at the Canyons is a par 71.

Lurking just one shot back are compatriots Ryan Palmer and Charles Howell III, who also had error-free starts returning identical nine-under scorecards that featured seven birdies and an eagle.

Justin Leonard, Michael Allen, Kevin Stadler, Bart Bryant and Scott Gutschewski are all one shot further adrift at eight-under.

Rookie Stadler, 163rd on the order of merit, aced the par-three 14th on his way to an eight-under 64.

Playing the back nine first at Summerlin, Stadler got off to an stumbling start with bogeys on his opening two holes but rebounded in style with a hole-in-one at the 14th followed by birdie on 15 and an eagle at the 16th.

Stadler then roared into the turn with birdies at 18 and the first followed by another eagle on three and a birdie at his last to close out a spectacular round.

Allen, 121st on the money list, bogeyed the second at Summerlin before hitting back with nine birdies, including four in a row from the 13th, for his 64.

Leonard, the 1997 British Open champion, is 11th on the order of merit and under no pressure for a place on next year’s tour. He opened with an eight-under 63 on the TPC at Canyons.

World number three and U.S. PGA champion Phil Mickelson registered a four-under 67 at the Canyons.

John Daly, beaten by Tiger Woods in a playoff at last weekend’s WGC-American Express Championship, mixed six birdies with three bogeys for a three-under 68.

Leading first-round scores