Ft. Worth, TX (Best E Casino) - Johnson Wagner fired a seven-under-par 63 in breezy conditions Thursday to grab a two-shot lead after the opening round of the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial.

Wagner has held the 18-hole lead two other times before on the PGA Tour and they came at the last two Houston Opens. Wagner went on to claim his first PGA Tour title earlier this year in Houston after opening with a 63 there as well.

World No. 2 Phil Mickelson opened with a five-under 65. He was joined in second place by 2006 Ryder Cup teammate Brett Wetterich.

Glen Day is alone in fourth at minus-four at Colonial Country Club.

Wagner got off to a flying start with birdies on one, three and four.

"Just hit it in the fairway a lot and got off to a really good start," Wagner said. "I birdied one, three and four. I got passed the fifth hole with a par which is big for me."

After a pair of pars, Wagner dropped in another birdie on the par-four seventh. He tripped to bogeys on eight and 10 to fall back to minus-two.

Wagner got up and down for birdie on the 11th to get back to minus-three. He followed that with birdies on 12 and 13 to get to five-under.

The 28 year old moved into the lead with a birdie on the par-four 15th. Wagner finished two clear of the field thanks to a birdie on the par-four 18th.

"I just hit it in the fairway a lot, hit a lot greens, had a lot of good looks at birdie and mistakes were minimal," explained Wagner. "I love playing here. I'm from Amarillo originally, so it's always nice to come home."

Mickelson opened with a birdie on the first, but gave that shot back as he bogeyed the par-three fourth. He turned it on from there.

The 2000 winner here ran off three birdies in a four-hole span from the fifth. Around the turn, Mickelson birdied the par-five 11th and par-four 18th to end two back.

"It was a good round," said Mickelson, who is playing here for the first time since 2005. "I ended up playing well, and I thought the course was a very fair setup under some difficult conditions, so it's nice to get off to a good start."

Wetterich had a similar round to Mickelson. Wetterich birdied the first and tripped to a bogey at the fifth. He bounced back with birdies at six and eight.

Around the turn, Wetterich poured in three straight birdies from the 11th to jump to five-under. He parred out to share second place.

"Probably the best round I shot all year," said Wetterich, who posted his low round of the year by two strokes. "It's been a struggle for me early on this year. It's nice to come back out and finally get a good round. It felt good on an especially tough day."

Corey Pavin, a two-time winner here, opened with a three-under-par 67. He shares fifth place with Mark Brooks, Dudley Hart, Kevin Sutherland, Mathew Goggin, Richard Johnson, Alex Cejka and Vaughn Taylor.

Jerry Kelly and Steve Lowery lead a group of 11 players tied for 13th at minus-two.