GOLF ROUNDUP Estes flies to lead with nine birdies

His 63 tied the course record in the first round of the Australian PGA.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
COOLUM, Australia -- American Bob Estes took advantage of ideal early scoring conditions Thursday, matching the Hyatt Regency resort course record with a 9-under 63 in the first round of the Australian PGA.
Estes had nine birdies in his bogey-free round. The four-time PGA Tour winner had a 6-under 30 on the more difficult back nine, his first nine holes Thursday.
He tied the course record set by Stuart Appleby in the 1998 Coolum Classic, and matched last year by Wade Ormsby in the Australian PGA.
Australia's Craig Spence was a stroke back. He overcame an opening bogey.
Eight players, including 1995 U.S. Open winner Corey Pavin, shot 67s, all but one of them in the morning in sunny, windless conditions.
Greg Norman and Craig Parry were in a group at 68, Australian Open winner Peter Lonard shot a 69, and Adam Scott and defending champion Peter Senior had 70s.
Nedbank Challenge
SUN CITY, South Africa -- Australia's Stuart Appleby shot a 2-under-par 70 but closed with bogeys on the final two holes, leaving him tied with three others for the first-round lead.
Appleby, whose round featured an eagle-3 on the 14th hole, shared the lead with England's Lee Westwood and South Africa's Ernie Els and Retief Goosen in the $4.06 million event. They were a shot ahead of Chris DiMarco of the United States and Nick Price of Zimbabwe.
Defending champion Sergio Garcia of Spain finished at 75 while British Open champion Todd Hamilton of the United States had a 74.
Americans Jim Furyk (74), Jay Haas (75) and Chad Campbell (80) struggled while Price came back from a relatively inactive year to shoot 32 on the back nine for a 71.
Hong Kong Open
HONG KONG -- Australia's Adam Groom shot a 6-under 64 on Thursday in the Hong Kong Open to take one-stroke lead over European Ryder Cup players Padraig Harrington, Miguel Angel Jimenez and David Howell and South Africa's Charl Schwartzel.
Groom, who missed earning a PGA European Tour card by a stroke two weeks ago in Spain, had six birdies in a bogey-free round on the Hong Kong Golf Club course.
Harrington, the event's defending champion, also shot a bogey-free round.
The tournament, co-sanctioned by the European and Asian tours, is the second event of the 2005 European schedule.