Haas two clear at Wells Fargo Championship

Bill Haas fired an eight-under 64 on Thursday to grab the first-round lead of the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow Club.

David Toms, who won the inaugural title here in 2003, and Jonathan Byrd are knotted in second place at six-under 66. Former U.S. Open winner Lucas Glover and Pat Perez share fourth at five-under 67.

Phil Mickelson struggled with the driver on Thursday, but still managed a three-under 69, which is good for a share of 11th place.

"I hadn't played in a few weeks, and to shoot Authentic NFL Jerseys under par was a good start," said Mickelson. "It could have been a lot better, could have been a lot worse. I'll certainly take it and have some areas I can improve and have some areas that I did very well today. It was fun."

They're all chasing Haas, a native of Charlotte who hinted after his round that this event may mean more to him than the major championships.

"I always tell people I think I'm biased a little bit, but it's probably our best event outside of a major," said Haas, who estimated he played 20 or 30 rounds at Quail Hollow growing up.

Haas, the son of former PGA Tour player and current Champions Tour star Jay Haas, started on the 10th tee Thursday and immediately broke into red figures when he two-putted the par-five 10th for a birdie.

Two holes later, Haas rolled in a 13-foot birdie effort. He parred the 13th, then went on a run up the leaderboard before he made the turn.

Haas drove into the right rough at the 14th, then hit a relatively poor approach to 27 feet. He drained the birdie putt and knocked his second into a greenside bunker at the par-five 15th. Haas blasted out seven feet past the stick, but holed the putt coming back for birdie.

Haas parred four in a row around the turn, but hit a great tee ball to 10 feet at the par-three second. He converted the birdie chance to reach five-under par for the tournament.

At the par-five fifth, Haas found the right fringe in Pittsburgh Steelers Jerseys two and nearly made his eagle try. He settled for a tap-in birdie to tie for the lead.

Haas badly missed the green in two at the par-five seventh, but he hit a nifty pitch from left of the putting surface to eight feet. He ran home the birdie putt to take over the lead, then padded the margin with another eight-foot birdie putt at No. 8.

Haas found some trouble at the difficult, 491-yard par-four ninth. He split the fairway off the tee, but pulled his second into the left rough. Haas hit another great pitch and he made the three-footer to save par and keep his two- stroke lead.

"Putted well, which leads into everything," said Haas. "It makes you more comfortable over your iron shots knowing that you can maybe miss this shot and your putter might save you because I just had the good feelings going with it."

Haas won last year's Bob Hope Classic and Viking Classic and appeared to continue the strong play at the start of the 2011 campaign. He finished eighth at the Hyundai Tournament of Championship, lost a playoff in his title defense at the Bob Hope and shared ninth at the Farmer's Insurance Open.

Since then, Haas finished in the top 15 just once.

Rickie Fowler, Vijay Singh, Stuart Appleby, Carl Pettersson and Jim Herman are knotted in sixth place at four-under 68.

Defending champion Rory McIlroy, who is playing herve leger dress for the first time in the U.S. since his final-round meltdown at the Masters, only managed a three-over 75 on Thursday.

NOTES: McIlroy is not a member of the PGA Tour and is playing this week on a sponsor's invitation...Sergio Garcia and Padraig Harrington are part of the group tied with Mickelson at three-under par...Former world No. 1 Martin Kaymer shot a two-under 70 on Thursday...Tiger Woods normally plays this event, but couldn't this year due to his leg injury.