Australian Rod Pampling fired a five-under-par 67 to establish a one-shot lead after the first round of the PGA Tour's Legends Reno-Tahoe Open in Nevada.

The 39-year-old leads the way by one from a group of seven which includes two-time tournament winner Vaughn Taylor of the United States.

Pampling's compatriot Marc Leishman, New Zealander Grant Waite and Americans Jonathan Kaye, Rich Barcelo, Steve Pate, Grant Waite and Spencer Levin also shot 68s at the Montreux Golf and Country Club, where windy conditions had severely hampered the early starters.

The 2003 US PGA champion Shaun Micheel - whose major win remains his only victory on the circuit in more than 300 starts - birdied three of the final five to sign for a 69.

Former US Amateur champion Jeff Quinney, seeking his first win, was five under with two to play, but dropped a shot at each of them and also had to settle for a 69.

Reflecting on his late slip-up, Quinney said: "You hate to bogey a last hole, let alone a par-five downwind.

"I hit a horrible tee shot that got knocked down by the tree and basically had to lay up twice.

"It felt like the wind was swirling a little bit. The greens are firm and fast and it's just an ultimate test."

Australian pair James Nitties and Steve Elkington and Americans Robert Garrigus, Paul Azinger, Ryan Palmer, Parker McLachlin and Jonathan Byrd also finished three under.

Byrd, starting on the back nine, had been six under but bogeyed three of his last four holes to slip back into the pack.

With all the stars at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in Akron, this tournament is a chance for one of the lesser lights to shine - and strike it rich with a first prize of US dollars 540,000 (£321,000).

There is also a place in next week's US PGA up for grabs, although as a past champion Micheel is among those already sure of his spot.

Micheel revealed that he has concerns over his mother's health at the moment.

"She's very sick and I have a lot of things on my mind really that don't even pertain to golf," he said.

"Sometimes I get out there I don't want to be there. But she wants me to play, so I'm doing my best to do that."

England's Greg Owen was four under after 13 holes but in the end signed for a level-par 72 after bogeying four of the last five holes.

Collated first round scores

(USA unless stated, par 72):

67 Rodney Pampling (Aus)

68 Spencer Levin, Steve Pate, Jonathan Kaye, Grant Waite (Nzl), Vaughn Taylor, Marc Leishman (Aus), Rich Barcelo

69 Paul Azinger, Robert Garrigus, Jeff Quinney, Parker McLachlin, James Nitties (Aus), Steve Elkington (Aus), Shaun Micheel, Ryan Palmer, Jonathan Byrd

70 John Rollins, Guy Boros, Eric Axley, Joe Ogilvie, Wil Collins, Troy Kelly, Carlos Franco (Par), Rocco Mediate

71 Patrick Sheehan, Kris Blanks, Steve Flesch, Scott Piercy, Chez Reavie, Matthew Jones (Aus), Mark Wilson, Kevin Na, Troy Matteson, Spike McRoy

72 Tom Byrum, Chris Riley, Colt Knost, Billy Mayfair, Mark Hensby (Aus), Greg Kraft, J.L. Lewis, Matt Bettencourt, Greg Owen (Eng), Tommy Armour III, Daniel Chopra (Swe), Jimmy Walker, Dicky Pride, Martin Laird (Sco), Ken Duke, Tyler Aldridge, Matt Weibring, Jason Gore, Brendon De Jonge, Chris Stroud, Scott McCarron, Chris DiMarco, Greg Chalmers (Aus), Steve Lowery, Matt Kuchar, Alex Cejka (Ger), Michael Allen, J J Henry, Kevin Stadler, Jay Williamson, Tommy Gainey

73 Francesco Molinari (Ita), Aron Price (Aus), Charl Schwartzel (Rsa), Phil Tataurangi (Nzl), Tag Ridings, Todd Fischer, Ted Purdy, Tom Pernice Jnr., Heath Slocum, George McNeill, Jay Delsing, David Peoples, Scott Gutschewski, Bob Heintz, James Oh (Kor)

74 Kirk Triplett, Mark Brooks, Neal Lancaster, J.P. Hayes, Ian Leggatt (Can), Cliff Kresge, Charlie Wi (Kor), Brian Vranesh, Dean Wilson, Robert Damron, Glen Day

75 Charles Warren, Omar Uresti, Darron Stiles, Harrison Frazar, Brent Geiberger, Peter Lonard (Aus), Ricky Barnes, Aaron Baddeley (Aus), Aaron Watkins, Jeff Maggert, Derek Fathauer, Arjun Atwal (Ind), Scott Sterling, Brendon Todd, Olin Browne

76 David Gossett, Paul Stankowski, Leif Olson, Casey Wittenberg, David Mathis, Rick Price, Frank Lickliter II

77 Kent Jones, Will MacKenzie, Andres Romero (Arg), Robin Freeman, Jason Schmuhl, Nicholas Thompson

78 Peter Tomasulo, D.A. Points, Bill Lunde, Bryce Molder

79 Craig Barlow

80 Charley Hoffman, Rich Beem

81 Matthew Borchert, Steve Allan (Aus)

83 Brad Adamonis

85 Robert Gamez

WD: Brian Bateman