Golf-American Crane charges into early tie for San Diego lead

SAN DIEGO Jan 28 (Reuters) - American Ben Crane made the most of ideal scoring conditions on the southern California coastline to surge into a share of the early lead in the San Diego Open first round on Thursday.

With hardly a breath of wind on a glorious sun-drenched day, Crane fired a seven-under-par 65 on the North Course, one of two layouts hosting the fourth PGA Tour event of the year.

Crane recorded eight birdies and a lone bogey to finish level with little-known compatriot Chris Tidland and Japan's Ryuji Imada, who also tackled the North layout.

American Tom Pernice opened with a bogey-free 66 on the North while Australian Robert Allenby, who started out on the more difficult and much longer South Course, was among a group of five bunched on 67.

Tournament favourite and three-times champion Phil Mickelson, who also began on the South, carded a two-under 70.

Crane, a double winner on the PGA Tour, was delighted to tee off in the second group of the morning on the picturesque 6,986-yard North layout.

"Getting off early on the North Course certainly helps," the 33-year-old told reporters. "The greens are in great shape the earlier you play and I was able to make some good putts today.

"History shows that the North Course certainly yields lower scores than the South Course, so certainly it's nice to get off to a good start on the easier of the two courses.

"You're going to have a lot more scoring clubs in your hands coming into some of those holes on the North," added Crane, who has not won on the PGA Tour since the 2005 Milwaukee Championship.

World number two Mickelson, who heads this week's field in the conspicuous absence of top-ranked Tiger Woods, looked a little rusty in his first competitive round of the season.

The three-times major winner mixed five birdies with three bogeys to lie five strokes off the early pace but he will be tackling the easier North layout in Friday's second round. (Editing by Pritha Sarkar; To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)