Allenby made nine birdies and no bogeys in his opening round

FIRST ROUND LEADERBOARD
(US unless stated):
-9 R Allenby (Aus)
-7 M Calcavecchia, C Kanada
Selected others:
-5 J Rose (Eng)
-4 I Poulter (Eng)
-3 B Davis (Eng)

Australia's Robert Allenby shot a blistering 63 for a two-stroke lead after the first round of the Bob Hope Classic at La Quinta, California.

Allenby shot a bogey-free round to move to nine under, with Americans Mark Calcavecchia and Craig Kanada two back.

England's Justin Rose opened the five-round event with a 67, while Ian Poulter shot 68.

Phil Mickelson, playing for the first time since the Ryder Cup, finished two under after an inconsistent round.

The American was three over following a double bogey at the fourth, but recovered with four straight birdies from the 10th.

US Ryder Cup player Scott Verplank, joint runner-up last year behind winner Chad Campbell, was among a group of eight bunched on 66.

Allenby holed 25ft birdie putts on his last two holes and said: "Tee to green, I played really well and I made a lot of putts.