American Denny McCarthy earned a one-stroke lead after the first round of the Bryon Nelson.

McCarthy carded an eight-under-par 63 to top the leaderboard heading into the second round in Dallas on Thursday.

The 26-year-old – seeking his maiden title on the PGA Tour – started off his day two-over through five holes after a double-bogey at the par-four fourth.

But McCarthy recovered quickly and dominated down the stretch, going bogey-free the rest of the way while making 10 birdies.

He birdied five in a row from the sixth through the 10th holes to sit ahead of countrymen Tyler Duncan and Tom Hoge, who posted 64s.

Eighth of the day for @BKoepka.

He’s one off the lead @ATTByronNelson. #QuickHits pic.twitter.com/1DbBaJucbH
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 9, 2019

Three-time major champion and U.S. Open holder Brooks Koepka is lurking following his six-under-par 65.

Koepka had an up-and-down day as he struggled to pick up shots to start his round – posting pars on his first four holes and on six of his first seven.

But he really picked it up in the middle of his round, tallying birdies on four straight holes and in five of seven.

However, Koepka's day did not close out quite like he would have liked after he bogeyed two of his last four holes. Despite that, though, he did make eight birdies in total.

"The last few weeks I've been even impressed with myself and how well I'm striking it," he told reporters after his round. "Controlling it nice and then from there just try to feel like you see some putts go in the hole. I think it's important to kind of feel like the hole is opening up with a major."

Elsewhere on the course, Texas native Jordan Spieth shot a three-under-par 68 to keep himself in the conversation and 2018 Masters champion Patrick Reed shot a 70.

This one had some pace to it.@JordanSpieth gets back to 4-under.#QuickHits pic.twitter.com/KwKcWi68b5
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 9, 2019

Former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo recorded his best round on the Tour via a five-over-par 76, but remains 13 shots off the pace and five adrift of the projected cutline.