Ryan Moore carded an opening day 65 to lead the field at the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village.
The American birdied five of the first seven holes and then picked up shots at the 11th and 14th holes in a bogey-free round of seven under par.
Moore, whose birdie putt at four performed a full 360-degree loop around the cup before dropping in, told www.pgatour.com: "I don't think I've ever seen a ball go that far around the hole and go in the hole.
"In the five to eight-foot range, they seemed to be lipping out [this season], and today they lipped in a couple of times, so it's always nice to get that stuff going and get the momentum and keep the momentum. It just makes you feel better."
Moore heads compatriot Jordan Spieth, who started on the back nine, by a shot, with Germany's Martin Kaymer and Indian Anirban Lahiri among a group of five men one further back.
Scot Russell Knox, who dropped three shots at the two par-five holes on the back nine, finds himself in a four-way tie for eighth on four under.
England's Justin Rose, who played alongside Woods and Bryson DeChambeau, found the going even tougher as he finished on three over, as did Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy
McIlory will begin his second round on the soft Muirfield Village course in Dublin, Ohio on three-over par.
The putter let the Irishman down at the second where he dropped two shots, while a wayward tee shot on 15 ensured his second double bogey of the day, the second time he had gone out of bounds with the driver.
McIlroy's round also included two birdies and a bogey.
Most eyes were on Tiger Woods in his first competitive round since missing the cut at the PGA Championship two weeks ago, and he delivered a respectable two-under-par 70.
The 43-year-old needs one more victory to match Sam Snead's record 82 wins on the PGA Tour, though perhaps more importantly the Memorial offers Woods a chance to assess his form heading to the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach in two weeks' time.
After winning the Masters in April, Woods requires three more major titles to match the record of 18 held by Jack Nicklaus, this week's tournament host.
"One of those days (where) it could have easily flipped, I feel like I could have got a few more out of it," Woods said of his score.
"It's so soft out there it's definitely gettable and look at the scores, the guys are doing it."
Leader Moore said a par at the first hole had set a positive tone that primed him to run off five birdies in rapid-fire fashion.
"On the first hole didn't hit a good tee shot and hacked something out short of the green, chipped to five to six feet and rolled that one in," said the five-times PGA Tour winner.
"It was nice to start out that way. Those are the putts that haven't been going in as much for me recently. Momentum went from there.
"I hit some great mid-irons today. It was good solid golf but mostly just capitalising and making the ones I should make."
