Geoff Ogilvy made his first hole-in-one on the US PGA Tour while Jason Day finished three shots off the lead in a solid opening round for the Australians at the Sony Open in Honolulu.
Ogilvy's ace came on the par-three fourth hole when he drained a five-iron on his way to a one-under-par round.
Day was the pick of the Aussies with a five-under-par 65 keeping him close England's Paul Casey and American Webb Simpson who have a share of the lead at eight under.
Simpson made his debut with a conventional putter on Thursday and might have wished he had used one sooner.
One year away from the new rule that outlaws anchored strokes, Simpson ditched his belly putter for a regular one for his 2015 debut and ran off eight birdies over his last 10 holes.
On a day that made the 144 players feel they were in paradise, Simpson and Casey led a morning of low scoring.
What set them apart is how they got there - Simpson with his conventional putter, Casey with his return to Honolulu for the first time in a decade.
"Today was a big day for me," Simpson said.
"I was extremely nervous - first round on the PGA Tour with a short putter. But I just had a couple of (Bible) verses in my yardage book today that I kept reading, and I stayed calm.
"Today was a hurdle I felt like I needed to get over, and just real thankful."
Camilo Villegas would have joined the leaders on 62 except for failing to make birdie on the par-five 18th hole.
He shot 29 on the front before cooling slightly for a seven-under-par 63.
South African Rory Sabbatini is at six under while Americans JJ Henry, Matt Kuchar and Joel Peterson are locked on five under with Day.
Casey says he gave up his European Tour membership to concentrate on playing the US PGA Tour, spending time with his newborn son and getting his game back into the top 50 in the world.
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