Ernie Els celebrated his 56th birthday by grabbing a share of the lead in the opening event of the Charles Schwab Cup playoffs with a bogey-free six-under-par 66.

"You don't want to screw up your birthday with a bad round of golf," Els said. "I don't know how I kept bogeys off my card, but we did. It was a nice day for scoring."

Els is tied with Justin Leonard and New Zealander Steve Allan after 18 holes at the The Country Club of Virginia in Richmond on Friday.

Leonard also posted a clean six-under round, while Allan carded nine birdies against three bogeys, including a four-birdie run on the front nine.

"It was (a rollercoaster)," Allan said. "I wasn't hitting the ball my best. I hit some good shots out there early, but a lot of shaky ones.

"Kind of found something when I was out th

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