Marc Leishman will begin round two of the Australian PGA Championship just one shot off the pace having enjoyed a typically under-the-radar round on Thursday.
The newly-crowned Australian player of the year finished with an eagle and two birdies on the final four holes to shoot 67 at a wet Royal Pines on the Gold Coast.
But it still wasn't enough to grab the headlines, as first Spaniard Sergio Garcia set the pace and then Peter Senior celebrated his return from retirement to join the pair at five-under.
Fellow Australians Jordan Zunic and Adam Bland both went one better and will start Friday as joint leaders at six-under, Bland throwing in his only bogey on the final hole to relinquish outright honours.
Used to PGA Tour colleagues Adam Scott and Jason Day hogging the limelight, Leishman has pulled back some ground this year thanks to Arnold Palmer Invitational and BMW Championship wins.
Remarkably, the world No.13 finished in the top 25 of all bar nine of his 25 events to earn nearly $US6 million ($A8.4 million).
It was enough to win the Greg Norman Medal on Tuesday night as the country's best golfer.
Having made the late decision to return and play the Gold Coast tournament - and give up a spot at the lucrative Hero World Challenge - he wants to win that too.
"Anytime you're home it doesn't take much to get the competitive juices flowing for me," he said.
"(Garcia's a) big name, obviously the Masters champion; it would be good if we could both play well and try and fight it out at the end but there's a long way to go."
Leishman, who tees off at 6.10am AEST on Friday, hopes to build on a round that only really got going in the last four holes.
"My game's in a good spot, the putter feels good, so hopefully I can get out early with no wind and have a low one," he said.
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