Seamus Power is in action at the Shriners Children's Open in Las Vegas, the Waterford man posting an opening-round 69 leaving him on two-under and six shots adrift of leader Tom Hoge.
Hoge drained two eagles en route to a 63, enough for a one-shot lead ahead of Maverick McNealy and South Korea's Si Woo Kim.
Power was among the early starters on the par-71 TPC Summerlin course and made strong initial progress with back-to-back birdies on ten and 11.
By the end of his opening nine holes, the Waterford native was up to four under after birdies on 14 and 16.
But the front nine proved a more difficult proposition for the 35-year-old.
A double bogey on the par-four third dropped him back to two under before he bounced back with a birdie on six.
However, another bogey on the penultimate hole of the day saw him settle for a two-under opening round to sit in a share of 55th place.
Clubhouse leader Hoge started slowly with five pars before a birdie at the sixth. Then came the par-four seventh, where he holed out from the fairway 109 yards away.
"I was going right at it the whole way, but I hit it about halfway up the stick," Hoge said. "You hit the pin, it can bounce anywhere, it seems like. This one came down and hit the left side of the hole and stayed right in there."
He made a 20-foot birdie putt from the fringe at the tenth, the middle of a three-birdie spurt, before his second eagle of the day at the par-five 16th vaulted him to eight under. He reached the green in two over a water hazard and sank a 33-footer.
Australian Jason Day was among those tied at five-under after shooting 66. Patrick Cantlay and Max Homa were part of a large tie at four-under.
Three golfers, none of them among the top 20 on the leaderboard, had one hole to play when action was suspended due to darkness. The first round will conclude earlier Friday morning ahead of the second round.
