USA's Bob Estes took a two stroke lead in the Colonial Championship in Texas on Thursday, while defending champion Sergio Garcia struggled in the windy conditions.

Estes had a bogey-free round to match his best score of the year with a five-under 65, birdying the first two holes and also closing with two straight birdies.

American David Duval was at 67 along with Steve Jones, Steve Lowery, Esteban Toledo, Scott Verplank, Bob Tway, Brandt Jobe, Frank Lickliter and Joel Edwards.

Only 34 of the 124 players were able to break par on the Colonial Country Club course.

Spain's Sergio Garcia, playing as a defending champion on the PGA Tour for the first time, shot a six-over 76.

He began the day with an eagle on his second hole, the 609-yard 11th, but had eight bogeys and no birdies after that in his worst round of the year.

"There's not much to talk about," said Garcia.

"What can you say about a 76? I got to playing bad, then got worse."

Estes said: "The winds were difficult, but I managed to combat the wind for the most part.

"A lot of good shots didn't turn out good, or some miss-hit ones turned out OK. It was difficult to pull the right club."

Tom Watson, Corey Pavin and Carl Paulson were among 13 players at 2-under 68.

Selected first round scores(USA unless stated)

65 Bob Estes
67 Esteban Toledo (Mex), Scott Verplank, Steve Jones, Bob Tway, Brandt Jobe, Frank Lickliter II, Joel Edwards, David Duval, Steve Lowery
68 Bob Burns, Vijay Singh (Fiji), Tom Watson, Per-Ulrik Johansson (Swe), Peter Lonard (Aus), Steve Flesch, Joey Sindelar, Carl Paulson, Mark Brooks, Jeff Maggert, Corey Pavin, Billy Andrade, Skip Kendall
69 K.J. Choi (South Korea), Jesper Parnevik (Swe), Nick Price (Zim)
76 Sergio Garcia (Spa), Frank Nobilo (Nzl), Geoff Ogilvy (Aus), Craig Perks (Nzl)

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