• Chris Smith’s 6-under-par 64 is his best round in six career starts in this event. The Ohio State University grad was bogey-free on his round, during which he hit nine of 14 fairways, 12 of 18 greens and had 24 putts. Smith missed the cut three times and finished tied for 37th (1998) and tied for 70th (2004) in his five previous trips to Memphis. His previous best round at TPC Southwind was a 3-under 67 in the final round in 1998.

• Smith’s 64 is his best score of the 2006 PGA TOUR season. His previous best was a 68 in the second round of the Buick Invitational back on Jan. 30.

• This is the fourth time in his career that Smith has held a first-round lead. The other times were in 1998 at the Bell Canadian Open, in 2001 at the Memorial Tournament, and in 2004 at Ford Championship at Doral.

• Smith is tied for the top spot on the Putts Per Round category. Smith, Gabriel Hjertstedt, Paul Azinger, Shigeki Maruyama, Ryan Palmer and Scott Gump each had 24 putts Thursday.

• The largest 18-hole lead in tournament history is three strokes -- Bert Yancey, 1966; Larry Silveira, 1990; Bob Estes, 2001. Both Yancey and Estes went on to victory, Silveira tied for 12th.

• D. A. Points, making his first career start in this event, shot a 4-under-par 66 Thursday and is alone in second place, two shots back of leader Chris Smith.

• Harrison Frazar withdrew after the round due to an infected finger. Ryan Moore withdrew after the round due to a sore hand. Shane Bertsch withdrew during the round due to a neck injury. Steven Bowditch was disqualified for failing to sign his scorecard.

• Players who were bogey-free Thursday: Chris Smith 64

• Thursday’s scoring average of 73.149 made this the second-highest single scoring day since the tournament moved to TPC Southwind in 1989. The only time the average was higher came in the first round in 2004 (74.506).

• Total rounds below par 24: morning wave (16) vs. afternoon wave (8)

• There were only seven birdies recorded at the 490-yard, par-4 17th hole Thursday. Those with birdies were Cameron Beckman, Richard Johnson, Zach Johnson, D. A. Points, Chris Smith, Nicholas Thompson and Bob Estes. Smith made the longest birdie putt (52 feet) while Richard Johnson made the shortest (7 feet, 2 inches).

• There were only six birdies recorded at the 485-yard, par-4 fifth hole. Those with birdies there were Dan Forsman, Michael Allen, Michael Connell, Jose Coceres, Briny Baird and Tim Herron. Baird was the closest (9 feet) and Forsman was the furthest away (29 feet, 11 inches).

• Two-time champion Nick Price opened with a 2-under-par 68, the 11th time in 19 career starts that he has been under par after the first round. Price has posted sub-par scores in 38 of 69 career rounds in this event and has a career scoring average of 68.95. He has made the cut 16 times in 18 previous starts (14 out of 15 starts at TPC Southwind).

• Two-time champion David Toms continued his solid play at TPC Southwind with a 1-under-par 69, including six birdies. Toms, who has finished fourth, first, first and second the past four years, now has been below par in 15 of his last 17 rounds here. Toms’ only missteps were in the final round in 2004 (73) and the second round last year (71). Toms’ scoring average for his last 17 rounds here (since 2002) is 66.88.

• There was only one eagle recorded during Thursday’s round. Ryan Palmer (69) holed his third shot from off the back of the green (69 feet, 9 inches) for an eagle-3 at the par-5, 16th hole. Last year there were four eagles posted on the opening round.

Here’s how the 13 former champions fared in the opening round:
2005 Justin Leonard 72
2004, 2003 David Toms 69
2002 Len Mattiace 75
2001 Bob Estes 71
2000 Notah Begay III 72
1999 Ted Tryba 69
1998, 1993 Nick Price 68
1996 John Cook 69
1995 Jim Gallagher, Jr. 75
1994 Dicky Pride 78
1986 Mike Hulbert 78
1983 Larry Mize 76

Here’s how the players with Memphis-area ties fared in the opening round:
Doug Barron 72
John Daly 77
Jim Gallagher, Jr. 75
David Gossett 75
Shaun Micheel 73
Andrew Pratt 72
Vance Veazey 73
Casey Wittenberg 74
Here’s how the four Monday Qualifiers fared in the opening round: John Mallinger, 73; Stiles Mitchell, 76; Will Moore, 73; Scott Sterling, 74

• The toughest hole on the golf course Thursday was the 490-yard, par-4, 17th. The scoring average for the day was 4.500, partially due to 13 double-bogeys and two "others.” The toughest hole on the 2006 PGA TOUR so far this year is the 426-yard, par-4, fifth hole at Poppy Hills (AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am), which had a scoring average of 4.492.

• Thursday’s weather: Mostly sunny skies, high of 92. Winds SW 10-20 mph.