Rested Toms ahead of the pack

David Toms showed that quality never goes out of style when he earned a one-stroke lead after the first round of the Wachovia Championship.

Toms, who recently took a month off to rest his back, returned to form on the demanding Quail Hollow course.

Playing the more difficult back nine first, Toms picked up four strokes on his outward half on his way to a 5-under-par 67.

"It does feel good to play solid golf again," the 2001 US PGA champion told reporters after opening a one-shot advantage over Phil Mickelson and Jason Bohn with last year's Masters champion Zach Johnson among a large group two shots behind.

"Conditions were perfect when we started off this morning," Toms added. "I played today with last week's winner (Adam Scott), who's a heck of a player, so I was just trying to keep up with him.

"I couldn't get within 30 yards of him off the tee, but I scored pretty well. It gives me a little bit of confidence (because) I hit a lot of great shots and so it wasn't like a fluke round."

Toms, 41, won the inaugural Wachovia Championship in 2001 despite a quadruple bogey at the final hole.

In February a back injury forced him to forfeit his second- round match at the WGC Match Play Championship in Tucson but he made the mistake of competing the following two weeks, before going home to Louisiana to rest.

"I've got a couple of deteriorating disks and from time to time my back locks up to where I can't really move at all," said Toms, who returned to action at the Masters, where he tied for 42nd.

World number two Mickelson made five birdies but it was his lone bogey, at the par-four 18th, that brought him the most satisfaction.

He yanked his second shot into the creek and, after taking a penalty stroke, pitched to eight feet and holed the putt to drop just one shot.

"To make that up-and-down, that was a huge one," he told reporters. "You can afford to lose a shot around this course but you don't want to have huge mistakes like doubles."