HONOLULU -- Graham DeLaet has never been happier to be on the PGA Tour, and it showed Thursday in the Sony Open. Aaron Hernandez Youth Super Bowl Jersey. One year after back surgery that made him wonder if he could ever play golf again, DeLaet chipped in for eagle and twice holed 35-foot birdie putts for a 7-under 63 that gave the Canadian a two-shot lead. Carl Pettersson and former Sony Open champion K.J. Choi were among those at 65, while Kapalua winner Steve Stricker, Webb Simpson, Bud Cauley and David Hearn of Branford, Ont., were among those at 66. "Im just so excited to be back out," DeLaet said. "I had a good season my rookie campaign, and then it was all basically just taken away. And I realize now how fortunate we are to be playing golf for a living. My whole attitude is definitely better." For Stricker, a minor adjustment was in order. He is trying to become the first player since Ernie Els in 2003 to sweep the Hawaii events, and Stricker was noticeably tired during his pro-am Wednesday, and parts of the opening round. Part of that was a Monday finish on Maui. He took the day off Tuesday, and he couldnt take three steps Wednesday without dozens of players congratulating him. "A nice problem to have," Stricker said. He picked up four birdies on the back nine, though, and was right in the hunt. "I was a little sluggish at times. Im still excited from last week," he said. "You turn around and youre right back in the competition. Youve got to be focused. And I was, for the most part." Cauley, who last year became the sixth player to go from college to the PGA Tour without Q-school, didnt show any signs of rust from having not played in nearly two months. He ran off four straight birdies around the turn until he stalled, then dropped a shot on the 17th and missed a birdie opportunity on the 18th when he tried to hit fairway metal out of a bunker and topped his shot. "I did a lot of things right," he said. "I did a lot of things I was doing last summer." Thursday was a gentle start of the season in the first full-field tournament of the year on the PGA Tour, with the ocean breeze barely strong enough to move fronds on the palm trees that line the fairways. Sixty-three players in the 144-man field broke par, including Oahu native Tadd Fujikawa, given a late sponsor exemption. DeLaet, who hails from Weyburn, Sask., surged to the top of the leaderboard when he chipped in from just short of the green on the par-5 ninth, then holed a 35-foot birdie putt on the 10th and hit his approach to 6 feet on the 12th for another birdie. He took the outright lead with birdies on the last two holes, getting up-and-down from just short of the green on the par-5 18th. At this time a year ago, he was a week removed from surgery on his lower back, which included shaving part of his disk to keep it from pressing against a nerve. The Sony Open offers pleasant scenery on TV, but he couldnt stand to watch. "It took me a couple of months before I could even watch golf," he said. The injury was nothing new, first suffered when DeLaet was playing hockey as a junior. His lower back would give him fits, and then the pain would subside. Toward the end of his rookie season in 2010 -- he finished 100th on the money list to easily keep his card -- it got so bad that he couldnt sit for more than a few seconds. Surgery took care of the pain, and DeLaet tried to return in the summer in the two tournaments sandwiched around the U.S. Open. His next start was supposed to be the AT&T National at Aronimink, but after playing a few holes before the Wednesday pro-am, he realized he was trying to get back too soon. "I think I wanted to be there so bad that I felt that I was better physically than I actually was," DeLaet said. "I just knew that its hard enough to compete out here when youre healthy, and I just knew that I wasnt in good enough shape to compete." For the moment, he feels great. It wasnt windy enough for Chois tastes -- he practices in blustery conditions all the time at home in Dallas -- and while he was still tired from a week at Kapalua, he was pleased to start with a 65. Ditto for Pettersson, who worked harder than usual in the off-season by playing golf just about every day in North Carolina. "I took one week off," Pettersson said. "I work hard. A lot of people think when youre overweight, youre lazy. I dont do much gym work. I did do some stretching. I worked with a physio who stretched me three times a week, and I worked hard on my game." Did he miss any meals? No. "I havent lost any weight," he said. "But Im more flexible." The most sterling debut belonged to Harris English, the Georgia star playing in his first PGA Tour event. English won a Nationwide Tour event as an amateur, then barely broke a sweat in the final two stages of Q-school to get his card. And in his first round, he was atop the leaderboard at 6 under. But he went long on the 14th green to make bogey, and then was too delicate with a bunker shot on the 15th and left it in the sand, leading to a double bogey. With a birdie on the final hole, he settled for a 67, still not a bad start. Calgarys Stephen Ames had one of the better turnarounds. He has been in Hawaii for his annual winter vacation, playing the Bay Course at Kapalua during the Tournament of Champions on the Plantation Course. But when he got to Waialae, he was 3 over through eight holes. Ames birdied six of the next nine holes and posted a 67. Tom Brady Youth Jersey. Long led all scorers with 22 points and handed out nine assists in the exciting win for Elon (6-7). Drew Spradlin contributed 12 points, while Lucas Troutman added 11. Columbia (7-5), which saw a four-game winning streak come to an end, was led by Brian Barbours 21 points, while Asenso Ampim added 14 in the tough loss. Mario Manningham Jersey. Thibodeaus squad is still in the running for the leagues best record and will take a seven-game winning streak into New York tonight. The Central champion Bulls will wrap up a three-game road trip and have won six straight as the visitor. Authentic Hakeem Nicks Jersey. Kosztor Sandorne, dubbed Flying Gizi by Hungarian media, was arrested after she entered a house in Komarom, a town in the northwest. Sandorne, who earned her nickname because she liked to flee her crime scenes by taking commercial flights, said she was in the house because she was trying to save money. Justin Tuck Authentic Jersey. The club isnt expected to announce Greens signing until March due to his current United Football League (UFL) contract which is set to expire. Green will be joining fullback Diedrick Dahrran, a former Nebraska Cornhuskers alumni, on the Als roster although Diedrick was redshirted in 1998, the same year Green was drafted by the NFLs Seattle Seahawks. Kenny Phillips Super Bowl Jersey. Graham, who once coached Olympic athletes Tim Montgomery, Justin Gatlin and Marion Jones, was ordered to his sentence by U.S. District Court Judge Susan Illston. Those three athletes were later banned for performance-enhancing substances. The government was attempting to give Graham a 10-month prison term, but instead Illston gave Graham a sentence that wasnt as harsh as Jones.Chinese national soccer team coach Zhu Guanghu revealed that he had already made preparations for the semi-final match at the upcoming AFC Asian Cup finals in July. We have studied our group match rivals and set different tactics to face them, said Zhu after Monday mornings training session. Weve also studied our possible quarter-final opponents and that of the semi-final. We focus on how to control and contain them to greatest extent under extreme hot and damp weather off Southeast Asia. Super Bowl Jersey Chinese players are training in a harmonious atmosphere, which satisfies the boss. You can feel that the team is unprecedentedly united. Thats a prerequisite for overcoming troubles in any big tournament. There are no big injuries within the team. Only Sun Jihai and Sun Xiang have some old injuries, but they can still play. Chinas target is to reach the last four at the Asian Cup. They will meet co-hosts Malaysia in their first group match on July 10. ' ' '