Sergio Garcia has opened his season with a five-under-par 66 and a share of the clubhouse lead in the first round of the Singapore Open.
Playing his first tournament of the year, the Masters champion rebounded on Thursday after making an early bogey to collect four birdies and an eagle at the Sentosa Golf Club.
He was later joined by American qualifier Kurt Kitayama in the clubhouse lead. Still on the course, Tirawat Kaewsiribandit was at six under through 16 holes when play was suspended because of the threat of lightning strikes.
Louis Oosthuizen, the 2010 British Open champion, was at five under - also through 16 holes.
Of the players who finished their opening rounds, only three were within two strokes of Garcia and Kitayama. One of them was Casey O'Toole, who aced the par-3 second with a seven iron.
The 38-year-old Garcia dropped his only shot of the day on the par-4 15th, his sixth hole after teeing off on the back nine, when he missed the fairway and was unable to make par. But he made amends when he birdied the par-3 17th and eagled the par-5 18th to go out in 33.
"I was one over after (the) seventh but it didn't feel like I was playing badly," said Garcia, who made birdies on both par-5s and one of the par-3s on the second nine.
"But then I hit two greats in a row for holes 17 and 18. I got a birdie-eagle there, so that settled me a little bit and I could play solid in the back nine and it was a great round."
Garcia made the shortlist for the Laureus Sports Awards in the Breakthrough of the Year category after claiming his first major last year at Augusta National.
He credits the Singapore Open as having played a part in toughening him up for his Masters win because he opted to start his 2017 campaign in southeast Asian humidity to prepare for the bigger tournaments ahead.
Although he finished tied for 11th in Singapore, Garcia won the Dubai Desert Classic the next week and was in peak form two months later when he won the Masters.
Kitayama only secured his place in the event on Monday by winning the qualifying competition, but made a strong start with birdies on three of his first five holes. The 25-year-old Thai was six under through 13 holes but bogeyed his last.
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