A picture of David Toms in his blue winner's jacket is just a few feet from Tiger Woods' smiling mug near the first tee at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, N.C.

The sun-drenched gallery at the Wachovia Championship knew Woods wasn't around yesterday to defend his title because of knee surgery. Many fans may have completely forgotten about the slumping 2003 champion -- until Toms broke out of his missed-cut, sore-back funk with a 5-under 67 to take the first-round lead.

It was Toms' best round in, well, he couldn't remember.

"Since a long time. I don't know. I can't even think," Toms said. "It makes me feel good about my game. It gives me a little bit of confidence."

Playing in the morning when the greens were still soft from the drenching rain earlier in the week, Toms made eight birdies, including a near ace at the 13th hole, to take a one-shot lead over Phil Mickelson and Jason Bohn.

It was a welcome change for the 2001 PGA Championship winner, whose previous victory was more than two years ago. Swinging too hard two months ago at the Match Play Championship caused a disk problem to flare up. He followed that withdrawal with two missed cuts while on pain medication, shot an 80 in the final round of the Masters, and tied for 61st at the Verizon Heritage. He is ranked 133rd on the money list.

• Spanish Open: A change of scenery didn't help John Daly's struggling game. Daly, playing in Spain for the first time in 16 years, shot a 3-over 75 in the first round in Seville, and was 10 shots back of leader Martin Erlandsson, who carded a course-record 65. Erlandsson, of Sweden, ended his round with birdies on the final three holes. He led Spanish players Jordi Garcia and Ignacio Garrido by one shot.

• SemGroup Championship: Lorena Ochoa felt helpless as too many shots ballooned into relentless gusts that reached 36 mph in Broken Arrow, Okla., sending her to a 2-over 73, only her second round over par this year. Hee Young Park held it together in Oklahoma's notorious wind with a 2-under 69, as did Beth Bader. Two other subpar rounds came from Ochoa's group -- Paula Creamer and defending champion Mi Hyun Kim, each with 70s.