World No 1 Luke Donald shot a 5-under 66 at the TPC Boston to finish one shot behind Troy Matteson after the first round of the Deutsche Bank Championship in the chase for the richest prize in golf - the US$10 million ($11.8 million) FedEx Cup.
Also one shot behind were former PGA champion Y.E. Yang and Masters champion Charl Schwartzel.
Despite recent form that saw him shoot to No1 in the world, Donald has been starting poorly. It looked as though that might be the case again until he made three straight par saves on the back nine, starting at No12, which allowed him to keep his momentum until the end.
"I think it was the putting," Donald said. "I feel like tee-to-green, I've been a lot more solid this year, and even the last few months. The putter has been a little bit cold. It hasn't been terrible, but just not as good as I would expect. And today was a lot better." Meanwhile, Phil Mickleson couldn't overcome the odd feeling of sticking the grip of a long putter into his gut. Mickelson became the latest to try a belly putter and, while he still missed his share of putts in a round of 70, he sounded as though he was willing to stick with it at least for the rest of the week.
"I thought it went well," said Mickelson, who opened with back-to-back birdie putts of just inside 10 feet. "I feel that I'm probably putting better with that putter than I would be the short putter, so I'll end up using it for the rest of the tournament. But I don't know if it's a short term or long term thing. But it feels good."
Matteson, facing elimination from the FedEx Cup playoffs, overcame a bogey on the first hole for his 65 - but understands the short term. He is 97 in the FedEx Cup standings, 27 places shy of advancing to the third event outside Chicago.
His expectations were not terribly high, and they kept sinking when he had a poor session on the practice range, then took bogey on the first hole. It all turned around so suddenly.
"If I don't play well, then I'm not going to play next week," he said. "I look at it like the end of the school year. The end of the school year is almost here, so let's just see what happens. Your expectations probably lower a little bit. Then all of a sudden, you make a few birdies and it's like, 'Well, that's not too bad.' Then you make a few more. By the end of the day, you're thinking, 'Gosh, how in the world did that day turn out the way it did?"'
The 65 was his best opening round of the year, and he can only hope it leads to better things. He had a playoff loss in Puerto Rico and only one other top 10 this year.
The group at 67 included Nick Watney, a two-time winner this year, while Dustin Johnson followed his playoff win at The Barclays with a 68 that left him disappointed he made bogey on both par fives on his back nine.
The biggest gallery of the morning belonged to PGA champion Keegan Bradley, who grew up in the area and was followed along by his father, his famous aunt LPGA great Pat Bradley and more friends and family than he could count. The ticket request was so great that he asked for 30 to 50 a day, and turned everything over to his mother. Bradley opened with a 68, a good performance in front of a hometown crowd.
Schwartzel has a chance to become the third player in the five-year history of the FedEx Cup to win the US$10 million by skipping the first playoff event. Tiger Woods did it in 2007, as did Jim Furyk a year ago, though not on purpose. He overslept and missed his pro-am time, making him ineligible to play The Barclays. Schwartzel has a big finish to his year, so he wanted some time off. He didn't think it was the worst idea, especially when an earthquake and hurricane hit New Jersey in the same week.
"I was sitting in South Africa in the sunshine and watching the guys struggle through the hurricane and all the things happening out here," he said. "In that sense, it was maybe a good choice. But by missing an event, you put yourself back a little bit on the back foot."
Schwartzel started at 21 and slipped to 28 by not playing.
He doesn't know all the details of the FedEx Cup, only that a win in any of the opening three events will give him as good a shot as anyone at the big prize.
Two players whose season ended Friday were Scott Verplank, who has been battling wrist issues all year; and Trevor Immelman, who learned after the round that his wife's grandfather had died. Both withdrew.
Meanwhile, in Switzerland, Rory McIlroy shot a 2-under 69 to move into a four-way tie for the lead in the European Masters second round yesterday. The US Open winner, who had an eagle two and a double-bogey seven, is 8 under with Englishmen Gary Boyd and Simon Dyson, Jamie Donaldson of Wales.
McIlroy rued missing a four-foot putt for birdie at the 18th: "I really wanted to make that to get into the lead on my own," the Northern Irishman said.
"All in all, I'm tied for the lead and it's not a bad position to be in."
Michael Campbell was tied at 25th after the first two rounds, after shooting 67 and 71, with Mark Brown tied for 52nd, just above the cut line.
Two playoff holes were needed to decide the event, with Alker settling for second.