SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. ? Harrison Frazar tied his best PGA Tour score with a 9-under-par 62 Thursday to open a two-stroke lead over John Huston and David Toms after the first round of the Phoenix Open.

Despite the attention focused on youngsters like Aaron Baddeley and Sergio Garcia, the first round belonged to a veteran who has never won a PGA tournament.

“There’s a lot of birdies out there,” Frazar said. “The next 54 holes, there’s going to be a bunch of opportunities.”

Retief Goosen, J.J. Henry, John Rollins, Luke Donald and James McLean carded 65s. Scott McCarron, Steve Elkington, Ian Leggatt, Charles Howell III, Dan Forsman, Tim Petrovic, Shaun Micheel and Kirk Triplett were a shot behind them.

Garcia was in a group of 29 at 69. The cluster also included defending champion Chris DiMarco and former champions Phil Mickelson (1996) and Rocco Mediate (1999), who placed third in last week’s Sony Open.

The 21-year-old Baddeley, who was second at Honolulu, shot a 71 and needs a strong second round to make the cut. So does Ty Tryon, 18, who made his PGA debut last year at Phoenix and missed the cut. He shot a 73 Thursday.

Frazar played most of 1999 with a broken hand and missed two months of the 2001 season after having surgery to repair torn ligaments and cartilage in his right hip.

He plugged along, somehow managing to remain among the top 100 money-winners. Frazar began last year still hurt and made only 15 cuts, but had five top-10 finishes.

After tying for 33rd Sunday in Honolulu, Frazar decided to break out the new Titleist X ball. He also had dinner Wednesday night with a friend, psychologist Fran Perazzoli, to discuss his putting stroke.

Harrison Frazar hits an iron shot from the 18th fairway in the first round of the Phoenix Open. Frazar carded a 62 on Thursday at the TPC in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Everything clicked. Frazar had five birdies on the front nine, finishing with three in a row on the TPC of Scottsdale course.

He bogeyed the 469-yard 11th hole when he hit too much of a divot with his 7-iron, lofting a shot that fell short of the green to negate an exceptional drive. Frazar chipped on but two-putted.

He got to 6-under with a 20-foot eagle chip on No. 13 after hitting a 5-wood a yard off the green, then had three more birdies from Nos. 15-17.

Huston got to 64 by birdieing five of the last seven holes. Toms went the other way, double-bogeying the 18th to fall out of the lead.