A chip-in on his final hole handed Brian Davis a one-shot lead after the opening round of the Valspar Championship in Florida.
The Englishman recorded eight birdies and two bogeys in an opening 65 to sit six under, a shot clear of American pair Sean O'Hair and Ricky Barnes.
Padraig Harrington, however, was brought back down to earth with a bang on his first appearance since capturing the Honda Classic title less than a fortnight ago.
The three-time Major winner is languishing 12 shots behind Davis after opening with a five over par 76.
Starting on the back nine, the Dubliner had a double-bogey six at his first hole that included a three-putt from 14 feet. He dropped another shot on his second hole, and while his round did include three birdies, these were offset by a further double bogey and three more bogies.
Also starting on the back nine, Davis birdied 11,12, 14, 15 and 18 to turn in 30 and two further birdies on five and six had him out in the lead on his own.
Bogeys on the seventh and eighth followed to stall his momentum somewhat but a wedge from the greenside rough at nine saw him take top spot.
"I actually hit a really good tee shot and a really good second shot, I was surprised to see it there," he told Sky Sports 4.
"Obviously it's into the green so I can be aggressive but it actually jumps out a bit quicker than I thought and obviously (I am) delighted it hit the pin and dropped in.
"Delighted with the round, I hit some really good shots today."
Davis has won $12.8million in his PGA Tour career but has yet to win a tournament and hopes improved iron play may at last push him over the edge after hitting 15 greens in regulation on the Copperhead course.
"My stats probably show I'm hitting eight to 10 greens a round, which is not going to get it done," he added.
"If you start hitting 14 greens the way I putt, you're going to shoot under par and that's what I did today."
O'Hair had eight birdies and three bogeys in his 66 while Barnes recorded a single dropped shot on 17 to slip into a share of second.
There was then a group of six players on four under made up of Justin Thomas, Derek Ernst, Nicholas Thompson, Brendon de Jonge, Alex Cejka and Henrik Stenson.
World number three Stenson is the highest ranked player in the field with Rory McIlroy and Bubba Watson not present and his 67 was bogey free.
The Swede, starting on 10, had chances for birdie on his opening five holes but could only take advantage on 11, 13 and 14 before picking up a shot on nine.
And Stenson hopes this week will provide him with some good practice for the Masters in four weeks' time.
"I come in here trying to prepare for Augusta as well and this is a great test for that," he told www.pgatour.com. "To just keep hitting your spots and stay patient and I did that all day and I got rewarded for it.
"I'm going to try the same for the next three days and, of course, try and hit the shots. Even though my swing wasn't on today I still picked my targets and tried the best I could.
"I hit some good shots, obviously, and the other ones I missed in the right places which is key here."
England’s Ian Poulter was in a large group of players at three under while Scottish pair Russell Knox and Martin Laird were a further shot back.
