HARRISON, N.Y. -- Adam Scott left his putter in the bag on a couple of holes, then turned it loose on the soggy Westchester Country Club course to claim the lead in the Barclays Classic on Thursday.

The 25-year-old Australian holed out twice from off the green and made long birdie putts on the final two holes for a 6-under 65 and a one-stroke lead after the first round.

"When it's this soft, you just hit it straight at the pin," he said.

Scott holed out from 105 yards for eagle on the par-4 seventh, chipped in from 50 feet on No. 12, made a 23-foot putt on 17 and closed with a 25-footer on the par-5 18th. He rebounded from a bogey on No. 6 with the eagle on the seventh.

"The greens are very soft, so I tried to hit a little wedge to control the spin," Scott said. "It landed into the hill behind the hole and came back down and in. That was a nice way to get the round jump-started."

David Howell and Billy Andrade were tied for second, Fredrik Jacobson opened with a 67 and U.S. Ryder Cup captain Tom Lehman, David Toms, Rocco Mediate, Arron Oberholser, Joey Sindelar and Daisuke Maruyama shot 68s. Masters champion Phil Mickelson stands five strokes back after a 70.

"I'm happy with the way I hit it," said Mickelson, the winner of the last two major championships. "I made only one bogey, a three-putt on No. 14, the par 3. I felt my ball-striking really coming on. ... With a lot of back pins, they were tough to get to, so I made some safe plays today to take bogey out of play."

Vijay Singh, the 1993 and 1995 champion, shot a 70, and Sergio Garcia, the 2001 and 2004 winner, had a 73. Retief Goosen opened with a 71.

Defending champion Padraig Harrington had two double bogeys in a 74. Last year, the Irish star holed a 65-foot eagle putt on the final hole to beat Jim Furyk by a stroke.

Scott tied for fourth last week in the Memorial Tournament after finishing third in his previous two PGA TOUR starts. He also missed the cut two weeks ago in the European Tour's BMW Championship, shooting 73-77.

"If I keep giving myself chances, I'm pretty sure I'm going to win," Scott said. "That's the goal, to get in position for a run on Sunday, and then take it over to the U.S. Open next week."

Because of the wet conditions on the hilly, tree-lined Westchester course, the players were allowed to lift, clean and place their balls in the fairways.

"Even though you've got it in your hand, it's the fair way to go just because there's so many things you can't control when you've got stuff all over the ball," Toms said. "Why should you be penalized for being in the fairway?"

Howell, the 30-year-old Englishman who tops the European Tour money list and Ryder Cup standings, was in contention last week in the rainy Memorial Tournament before shooting a third-round 83 en route to a 46th-place tie. He won the BMW Championship at Wentworth for his fourth career European Tour title.

"The win is behind me and so is the 83," Howell said.

Howell faded a 4-iron to a foot on his second hole -- the par-4 11th -- to set up the first of his eight birdies. He also birdied the final four holes on his first nine, bogeyed Nos. 3 and 5 and rebounded with birdies on his last three holes.

"I made those four birdies in a row and then I just let it slip," Howell said. "Both were lapses in concentration, a bad drive on three and a three-putt on five."

Andrade, the 1991 winner, had five birdies in his bogey-free round. He missed an 8 1/2-foot birdie putt on No. 18, leaving him a stroke behind Scott.

"I drove it nicely," Andrade said. "I think playing the ball up makes it a little easier with the dampness and stuff, so I didn't make any mistakes."

Adam Scott made two long birdie putts to cap off his round of 65 Thursday. (Messerschmidt/ WireImage)

Jacobson, playing in the first group of the day off the No. 1 tee, birdied four of the last six holes on the front nine and closed with nine straight pars.

"I think we've been very lucky this morning with the weather," Jacobson said. "There wasn't a lot of wind and it only rained for a couple of minutes."

Lehman was 6 under through 15 holes, but bogeyed the final three holes to finish at 3 under. After a three-putt bogey on No. 8, he hit his drive well left on the ninth, advanced to the ball 100 yards back into the fairway, hit his third into the right front bunker and was unable to get up and down for par.

"I played extremely well for 15 holes," Lehman said. "I totally butchered the ninth. What would have been a great round was just a good round."

Ryder Cup assistant captain Loren Roberts, a three-time winner this year on the Champions Tour, shot a 71.

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