Daily Wrap-up: Round 1, Zurich Classic of New Orleans

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AVONDALE, La. -- Bubba Watson entered the Zurich Classic of New Orleans as a favor to his mother.

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"My mom really wanted me to come," said Watson, tied for first-round lead with Matt Jones after opening with a 6-under 66 on Thursday. "My mom always comes to this golf tournament, so when my mom says she wants to come, I'm here. And somehow I shot 6 under today."

Watson, the winner at Torrey Pines in late January, two-putted from 32 feet for eagle on the par-5 11th and had six birdies and two bogeys at TPC Louisiana -- far from his favorite course.

"The way the course is, it just doesn't fit my eye the way it is," Watson said. "It's a great golf course, a great layout. For me, it's just not one that I want to play every day.

"Today, it just worked out. I hit my driver really well. I've been hitting it good all year, but I made some putts and hit some good iron shots and somehow came out 6 under."

Jones chipped in from 57 feet for a birdie on his final hole.

"I pitched it perfectly," Jones said. "It grabbed a little and just trickled in nicely."

Jones had eight birdies and two bogeys. Playing the back nine first, the Australian reeled off four consecutive birdies beginning at the par-4 16th. He followed with a 30-foot birdie putt on the 17th, an 11-footer on the 18th and a 20-foot putt on the first.

Jones and put in a lot of work this week with swing coach Gary Barter.

"My hands are pretty sore, actually, after all the work we've done," Jones said. "So it's coming slowly. Today we saw some positives out of what we've been doing."

Watson and Jones played in the afternoon in better scoring conditions after a strong north wind made morning play more difficult.

"The guys set it up pretty well with the conditions that we had out there with the wind and everything," Jones said. "The greens are perfect. And I played well. ... I actually made a lot of putts today and chipped in on the last to finish the round, which is good."

Joe Durant, Tommy Gainey, Carl Pettersson, John Rollins, Nick O'Hern and David Duval opened with 67s. Durant played in the morning.

"I think I just stayed patient," said Durant, sixth last week at Hilton Head. "Some of the pins were in some difficult spots so you had to kind of shoot away from them. I played around here enough to know what it's going to do with different winds."

Gainey was third last week.

"I think the momentum from last week is definitely with me," he said.

Luke Donald, a playoff loser last week at Hilton Head in a failed bid to jump from No. 3 to No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking, shot a 68 to match Matt Bettencourt, Webb Simpson, Jason Dufner, Charles Howell and 2002 winner K.J. Choi. Hilton Head winner Brandt Snedeker opened with a 77. He had a triple bogey on the par-3 ninth when he hit his tee shot in the water.

Rickie Fowler and Steve Stricker shot 70s, U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell had a 73, and Vijay Singh opened with a 74. Singh, critical of the Pete Dye-designed layout, had a double bogey on the 18th hole.

John Daly struggled to a 9-over 81. Daly was 2 over through 14 holes, then played his last four in 7 over. He had a triple bogey on the par-4 16th after hitting two shots into the water.

TPC Louisiana: Thursday

EASIEST HOLE TOUGHEST HOLE The par-5 11th hole was the easiest with a Thursday scoring average of 4.590. EAGLES: 2 BIRDIES: 66 PARS: 82 BOGEYS: 6 OTHER: 1 The par-4 4th hole was the toughest with a Thursday scoring average of 4.397. EAGLES: 0 BIRDIES: 11 PARS: 90 BOGEYS: 42 OTHERS: 8

About the leaders

• Watson had one of four eagles in the opening round. Watson eagled the 582,-yard, 11th hole by rolling in a putt from 32' 3". His tee shot on the hole was measured at 343 yards and he hit a 6-iron from 237 yards for his second shot. "It was downwind," he said, smiling. • Watson is making his seventh career start in this event and his 66 today ties his best score, a 66 in the opening round in 2006, when the tournament was played at English Turn G&CC. Watson's 66 that day put him T3, two strokes behind leader Graeme McDowell and one back of Stuart Appleby. • Watson, winner of the Farmers Insurance Open in late January, has made seven cuts in nine starts this season. He also advanced to the semifinals of WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in February. • Jones holed a chip shot from 57' 2" on the 9th hole (his last) for birdie and a share of the opening-round lead with Bubba Watson. Jones had eight birdies today to lead the field. • Jones has held the first-round lead once before in his career. He shot a 6-under 66 at the 2010 Valero Texas Open and led by one over Paul Stankowski. He added rounds of 71-73-72 and finished T22.