Concord, NC – At the eGolf Tour's Cabarrus Classic presented by VisitCabarrus.com, Mother Nature was the day one story as a steady rain and nearby rumbling skies pelted the greater Concord, NC area for much of Wednesday's afternoon wave. In the morning wave, however, Brian Anderson and Ryan Nelson were able to get out early (and dry) with stellar opening rounds of 8-under 64 to grab a share of the tournament's 18-hole lead.

The Cabarrus Classic presented by VisitCabarrus.com is the 15th event of the 2011 eGolf Tour season and is being contested this week at the George Cobb-designed Cabarrus Country Club course in Concord, NC.

Anderson, who has played the eGolf Tour full time since 2009, opened his week with a birdie at the par-5 first before recording six consecutive pars on Nos. 2 through 7 to remain at 1-under for the day. Birdies on 8, 9, 10 and 11 moved the former Illinois State golfer to 5-under on his round through 11 holes.

"I had some chances early on, but didn't really hit it close enough to convert on anything," said Anderson, 29. "Then I two-putted eight for birdie and made a long one from the front of the green on nine, and it kind of got the day going. I just needed to see a few balls go in to get the confidence going."

A follow-up birdie drought on Nos. 12 through 15 gave way to a torrid closing stretch, as Anderson birdied 16, 17 and 18 to close out a back-nine 31 and his round of 64. The round marks the second straight eGolf Tour event in which the Jupiter, FL resident has claimed a share of the first-round lead, dating back to 9-under 62 in the opening round of the HGM Hotels Classic at Rock Barn five weeks ago.

For Anderson, it also marks the second time he has posted a first-round 64 in this event. In the 2009 edition, Anderson opened with a 64 at Cabarrus Country Club to grab the 18-hole lead en route to a T4 finish on the week – the best of his eGolf Tour career.

"It's a fun golf course. If you hit your driver well, you can attack a lot of the holes with short irons," said the Rochester, IL native. "My goal was to play the par-3s conservatively and go after everything else. Fortunately, I was able to do that."

Long known as one of the tour's most talented ball strikers, Anderson took a deep look at his game this summer and decided it was time to upgrade the mental side. After a few months of convincing, Anderson decided to visit noted golf psychologist Dr. Bob Rotella in order to improve the part of his game that exists between his ears.

"My wife worked with him when she was on the LPGA and Futures Tours, and she helped to get my foot in the door," said Anderson, who is married to Meredith (Ward) Anderson. "Early on in my sessions with Doc, I knew that he was pointing me in the right direction."

In discussing his tendency to start fast and gradually fade, Anderson discovered through Rotella's help that he was laid back and in the "now" during early rounds, yet more focused on the future and results in later rounds. With an attempt at taking the game one shot at a time, Anderson entered the week in a good frame of mind with hopes that an improved mental game would provide long-term benefits.

"It's such a cliché, the whole ‘one shot at a time' idea, but it's so true," Anderson said after his round. "It's obvious stuff, but it really opened my eyes to what I needed to work on. At this stage, the game is 95 percent mental. That's the entire game at the professional level."

After a mid-season drought in which he missed four tournament cuts and withdrew from another tournament, Anderson seems on the right path again with four consecutive made cuts and three consecutive top-25 finishes entering the week in Concord. It's probably no coincidence that he began working with Dr. Rotella just prior to the first of those four events.

"The things I'm working on are slowly taking hold, but it's all a process," said Anderson. "This tour puts you in a great position to succeed at Q-School, on the Nationwide Tour, and on the PGA TOUR. If I can continue to improve my mental game out here on these courses and against this level of competition, I feel certain that I can continue it this fall and beyond."

For Nelson, a first-round 64 was yet another solid day in what has been a fantastic rookie campaign on the eGolf Tour. The Oregon native posted four top-5 finishes in just eight starts – including a win at the Scratch Golf Championship – to collect $64,685 and move to No. 6 on the tour's money list.

On Wednesday, the 33-year-old Nelson began his round on the short par-4 10th with a par, but immediately went backwards with a rare bogey at the par-5 11th to fall to 1-over on his round on the otherwise docile layout. From there, Nelson's scorecard went into overdrive.

Birdies at 12, 13 and 14 pushed the Houston, TX resident to 2-under on his day, and a birdie at the par-5 18th let him turn at 3-under 33.

An eagle at the short par-5 first moved Nelson to 5-under, and when he closed with three consecutive birdies on Nos. 7 through 9, he was tied alongside Anderson at the top of the leaderboard at 8-under for the round.

The 64 was Nelson's 13th consecutive round of par or better on the eGolf Tour – a streak during which he posted 64 an impressive three times.

In June of this year, the former University of Portland golfer qualified for the U.S. Open at Congressional Country Club, where he missed the cut with rounds of 75-78—153.

Tied for third, one shot behind Anderson and Nelson, are Taylor Hall of LaGrange, GA and 2005 eGolf Tour leading money winner David Sanchez of Charlotte, NC.

Hall, a former standout golfer at NCAA powerhouse Georgia Tech, was the tournament's early leader after posting a bogey-free 65 in the day's first threesome off of No. 10. Hall recorded six birdies on his opening nine to turn at 30, then added a birdie at the par-5 first to move to 7-under before finishing with pars on his last eight holes.

The round marked Hall's fourth round of 65 or better on the eGolf Tour, yet his first since a first-round 64 at the 2010 Bushnell Championship. All of Hall's career rounds posted at 65 or better have come in a tournament's opening round.

For Sanchez, a good round at Cabarrus Country Club was nothing new. The former N.C. State "All American" captured his first eGolf Tour title at the Cabarrus Open in September of 2005 en route to winning the tour's money title later that same year.

In his opening round, Sanchez carded an eagle at the par-5 first and six birdies to help offset a bogey at the downhill par-4 17th for his 7-under effort. The 65 marked his third round of 65 or better in 2011 alone.

Currently No. 24 on the tour's money list with $31,918 in earnings, Sanchez had played consistent golf so far on the year. He has made 8 of 10 cuts thus far and posted four top-10 finishes that rest inside an impressive statistic of seven top-25 finishes in those 10 starts. Both cuts missed came with 3-under and 5-under totals, respectively, at the Bolle Classic and HGM Hotels Classic.

The vast majority of players in Wednesday's morning wave finished their rounds prior to the arrival of area rain. In the afternoon wave, played in and around saturated conditions, Carter Newman and Mitchell Krywulycz – teammates on the 2010 and 2011 NCAA Champion Augusta State University golf teams – posted the low rounds with matching 67s.

The shot of the day came from Zimbabwe's Bruce McDonald, who recorded a hole-in-one at the 165-yard par-3 12th using a 9-iron. The former College of Charleston golfer posted a 4-under 68 on the day.

Second-round play in the Cabarrus Classic will begin at 8:00 AM on Thursday morning at Cabarrus Country Club. Following the conclusion of 36 holes, the field will be cut to the low 45 players and ties. The tournament is open to the public and free of charge.