(Reuters) - Two weeks after withdrawing from the Wells Fargo Championship with a back injury, Swede Peter Hanson charged into a one-shot lead at the Byron Nelson Championship on a course he barely knows on Thursday.
Hanson, despite having seen only the front nine at the TPC Four Seasons Resort Las Colinas in practice, piled up six birdies and a sole bogey to card a five-under-par 65 in breezy conditions in Irving, Texas. The 36-year-old stormed to the turn in five-under 30, then offset a bogey at the 14th with a birdie at the last to finish a stroke in front of Australian Marc Leishman, New Zealand's Tim Wilkinson and American former world number one David Duval. Germany's Martin Kaymer, fresh from victory at the Players Championship on Sunday, and American Ryan Palmer were among a group of eight players knotted on 67. Hanson, a six-times winner on the European Tour who has yet to taste victory on the PGA Tour, was delighted with his opening 65. "It's always nice to get off to a fast start," the Swede told reporters after hitting a nine-iron approach to six feet at the par-four 18th to set up his sixth birdie of the day.