NAPA, Calif. -- Scott Piercy began the new PGA Tour season by pouring in putts and setting the course record at Silverado, a 10-under 62 for a two-shot lead Thursday in the Safeway Open.Conditions were practically perfect in the morning, and Piercy tk advantage. He made 12 birdies, only three of them from inside 10 feet, and he even missed a pair of birdie chances from inside 8 feet.He wasnt alone in attacking Silverado.Paul Casey, coming off a pair of runner-up finishes in the FedEx Cup playoffs that signaled a return to form, birdied his last three holes for a 64. Patton Kizzire also shot a 64.Jon Rahm of Spain, who earned his PGA Tour card from sponsor exemptions last season after wrapping up his college career at Arizona State, began his PGA Tour career as a member in fine fashion. He made a hole-in-one -- the first of his life -- on his second hole, the par-3 11th. His 7-iron from 173 yards flew straight into the cup.Very special moment, Rahm said. It was hard to believe. I actually thought it hit inside the hole and bounced out.Phil Mickelson, playing a domestic PGA Tour event in the fall for the first time in a decade, overcame a bogey-bogey start to post a 69, along with playing partner and defending champion Emiliano Grillo. Bill Haas was added to that group when Tiger Wds withdrew and showed no vulnerability in his game by posting a 66, the best score of the afternn.I got off to a slow start. I wasnt as focused as I need to be, Mickelson said. But I put myself in a position where tomorrow if I can get hot on the greens -- get perfect greens in the morning -- get it going, sht 6-, 7-, 8-under par and get right back in it for the weekend.Mickelson and Casey have had the best calendar years without winning, based on the world ranking points they have earned. Mickelson is playing his final tournament of 2016, while Casey plans to play the next two in Asia before taking off the rest of the year.Piercy, at least on paper, had one of his better years, earning $2.9 million. He had a chance to win a major at the U.S. Open until Dustin Johnson pulled away at Oakmont, and Johnson beat him by one shot at a World Golf Championship.But those runner-up finishes in big events covered up an atrocious year with the putter. Piercy was 156th in the most important putting statistic, which is what held him back most of the year.Its what carried him Thursday. He holed a pair of 18-ft birdie putts on successive holes early in his round and kept pouring them in, one after another, to offset a pair of bogeys from the bunkers on the par-4 third hole and the par-3 seventh late in his round.I think I made more feet of putts than I did all last season, he said. Ive been working on the putter a lot and trying to get some things figured out. Today was a gd start to the season, gd start to get some confidence going with the putter.His power has always been there, and he showed that on the par-5 fifth hole when he blasted a drive over the trees along the line of the cart path, back to the fairway on the dogleg right. That left him only a 6-iron into the green, and he narrowly missed a 20-ft eagle attempt.That was among the few putts he missed. Piercys 62 was at least nine shots better than the course average.Casey played in the group in front of Piercy and did his best to keep pace. He made eight birdies on a bogey-free day at Silverado. The big change for Casey was a new driver as he slowly transitions away from Nike, which is getting out of the equipment business.Casey ended last season three weeks ago at the Tour Championship with a 64 and started the new one with a 64, so the time off didnt hurt him.Im lking at this as a continuation of the year, he said. I know the slates been wiped clean and we start the FedEx Cup all over again, but Im lking at this to try to cap off my season. Ive got three opportunities to try to win a golf tournament, and I havent done that yet this year.DIVOTS: Morgan Hoffmann holed out for an albatross on the par-5 18th hole. ... Cody Gribble had the low round among the PGA Tour rkies with a 67. ... Justin Thomas, who missed the playoff at Silverado by one shot last year, opened with a 75 after two tee shots out of bounds led to triple bogeys. On both holes, he three-putted from inside 15 feet. Wholesale Angels Jerseys . -- Its been a long road back for Sean Bergenheim. Los Angeles Angels Shirts . -- Whether Jeremy Hill deserves a prominent role in LSUs offence this early in the season is a matter for debate. https://www.cheapangels.com/ .Y. -- Buffalo Bills coach Doug Marrone has drawn on his Syracuse connections once again by hiring Rob Mre to take over as receivers coach. Los Angeles Angels Store . Its an influence in ftball and a big part of the game. Cheap Angels Jerseys . Dukurs winning time was 1 minute, 45.76 seconds, a quarter-second better than Russias Alexander Tretiakov. Lativas Tomass Dukurs was third, 1.41 seconds off the pace. Jon Montgomery of Eckville, Alta. MOSCOW -- Russias national soccer team is often attacked for pr performances but players will be paying special attention to their latest critic.With the 2018 World Cup hosts struggling on the field, Vladimir Putin isnt amused.The Russian president said to be honest, we havent seen beautiful play from the national team for a long time. Putin also compared its performance with Russias pleasing ice hockey team.Speaking two days after Russia lost 2-1 to Qatar in a friendly between the 2018 and 2022 World Cup hosts, Putins remarks were reported by state news agencies on Saturday during a factory visit.Russia has won just one of its last 10 games and crashed out of this summers European Championship without winning a game. That prompted the resignation of coach Leonid Slutsky, but things havent picked up under his replacement Stanislav Cherchesov, whose four games in charge have included a draw with Turkey and defeat to Costa Rica.Despite all this, the team has been set a target of reachingg the semifinals in 2018.ddddddddddddOf particular concern for Cherchesov is the need to revitalize a team which was among the oldest at Euro 2016, amid a lack of obvious young talent. In a sign of the audition process underway, the current squad includes five inexperienced central defenders, none of whom have played more than four times for Russia.Recriminations followed the European Championship campaign when two players were disciplined after being filmed partying in a Monaco nightclub with champagne as the Russian anthem played, following their teams elimination from the tournament.Russias next game is a friendly against Romania on Tuesday in Grozny, the capital of the Russian region of Chechnya. It will be the first Russia game to be played in Chechnya, where UEFA has previously banned European competitive matches from being held due to security concerns. ' ' '