Marc Leishman has welcomed the strong winds forecast for the remainder of the Tournament of Champions as he breezed into the lead after the first round in Hawaii.
Having cut his teeth on the windswept coastal links of Warrnambool in Victoria, Maui's infamous trade winds had no effect on the Australian world No.12 as he fired a six-under-par 67 at the US PGA Tour event at Kapalua's Plantation course.
Leishman, who won twice in the US last year, will take a one-shot lead into the second round over Brian Harman and Jhonattan Vegas (both 68) at five under.
World No.1 Dustin Johnson, fellow American ace Rickie Fowler and Korea's Si Woo Kim (all 69) share fourth at four under.
"It would be good if the winds stay like this; I grew up in it and I enjoy playing in it," said Leishman.
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"It just takes a little imagination and when you enjoy playing on certain golf courses or certain conditions it's easy to play well."
Leishman is in good form, with a win, a second and another top five in his past five starts worldwide.
Ironically, the last time Leishman was eligible to play the elite winner's-only event was in 2013 - when the winds were so severe the tournament started three days late.
On Thursday, gusts blew as high as 56 kilometres per hour and with seven of the world's top 10 golfers present, several big guns were casualties.
Defending champion Justin Thomas struggled to a two-under 71 to share 12th place, while three-time major champion and world No.2 Jordan Spieth struggled to a 75.
Spieth shares 30th place with the second Australian in the field, Cameron Smith, at two over.
Brisbane native Smith, playing the Tournament of Champions for the first time, failed to bring his recent Australian PGA Championship-winning form into day one.
"But I didn't really hit too many bad shots. The greens are very hard to get used to on my first time here; they were very slow and hard to read at times," said Smith.
"It's one of those courses where some local knowledge goes a long way.
"I feel I've seen some of the bad spots I shouldn't have left the ball in, but and I'm confident I can tidy that up in the second round.
"I'm still feeling really good about my game."
