He birdied his first four holes and then added an eagle at the par-five 14th, his fifth hole, where his wedged approach shot took one bounce before disappearing into the cup.
"I was just making putts on the front nine, holing stuff out, chipped in once, holed a shot from 113 yards," Landry said. "I went black out there for nine holes, seven under. It kind of crept up on me."
Landry, who says he would be a fishing guide if he was not a pro golfer, could not maintain the torrid pace on his inward half, ending the day locked with fellow Americans Ryan Armour, J.J. Spaun, Wyndham Clark and Conrad Shindler.
Landry, 30, has two victories on the secondary Web.com Tour, and he recently made a bright start on the main stage when he tied for seventh at the Safeway Open in the first event of the 2017-18 PGA Tour season.
He previously had a brief flirt with fame at the 2016 U.S. Open, where he started the final round in a share of second place and played in the final pairing before fading to finish tied for 15th at Oakmont.
This week's event is being played at the same time as the WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai and gives the tour's journeymen and rookies a golden chance to snag a career-boosting victory.
(Reporting by Andrew Both in Cary, North Carolina; Editing by Greg Stutchbury)
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