Golf:Australian James Nitties produced a barnstorming finish to grab a share of the lead with American Ken Duke after the first round of the Byron Nelson Championship on the PGA Tour.

The 26-year-old PGA Tour rookie birdied the last four holes for a five-under-par 65 to join Duke a stroke above Canadian Mike Weir and Americans Charles Howell III, Scott McCarron and Brad Adamonis.

Nitties, enjoying a solid season at 70th on the Tour money list, was delighted with his finish at the Four Seasons TPC.

"Looking at the scores (of the other players), they weren't that good, so it didn't put any pressure on me to do anything crazy," he said.

"I just went about my business. It was not my best ball-striking round but it was a smart round and then I struck it really well the last five holes."

Duke, who has slumped to 151st on the money list after a career-high 29th last year, notched six birdies in a single-bogey round to shrug off a disappointing start to the year.

"I was very consistent with my putting today and that's been kind of holding me back," the 40-year-old Arkansas native said.

Canadian Weir escaped completely from golf last week by taking a whitewater rafting trip with friends in southern Utah.

The break seemed to help as the Canadian shot a five-birdie four-under 66.

"I wanted to get away ... I didn't quite know what to expect (Thursday but) as I got into the round, I felt good about my swing and after I got off to a nice start, I kind of settled down."

World number nine Vijay Singh of Fiji remains within striking distance of the leaders, five strokes adrift after shooting a level-par 70.

Defending champion Adam Scott is a stroke further behind on one-over, the Australian battling back to a respectable 71 following back-to-back bogeys on his first two holes.