Thomas Bjørn bogeyed his final two holes but posted a competitive opening 69 at the US PGA Championship at Whistling Straits.
The Dane had held the lead at five under when he birdied the 12th but dropped shots on his closing two holes saw him drop three shots behind leader Dustin Johnson who carded a six under 66.
Fellow European Tour Members Justin Rose and James Morrison also carded rounds of 69 to take their place near the top of a congested early leaderboard.
Bjørn, who finished in a tie for second at this tournament in 2005, put his tee shot on the par three third to within nine feet and holed for birdie, and followed that up with another birdie on the par five fifth.
He picked up another shot on the eighth to turn in 33 and when he got up and down on the par five 11th, he found himself at the top of the leaderboard.
The lead was his outright on the 12th as he picked up another birdie but he left himself a lengthy par putt on the par three 17th which he could not make and a closing bogey took the gloss off an otherwise impressive round.
"It's disappointing obviously to finish with two bogeys but I came into the week not playing very well," Bjørn said.
"I played poorly last week and worked very hard early in the week and you're never really sure where you are but I was really really pleased with the way I played for 16 holes.
"A couple of little shots at the end but they'll not destroy a pretty good day."
Rose started on the tenth and got off to a poor start with bogeys on the 11th and 13th but the former US Open champion is made of stern stuff and birdies at the 14th, 16th and 17th saw him turn in 35.
Back to back birdies on the fifth and sixth then saw him come back in 34 and move within touching distance of the leader.
"I was two over through four and obviously not feeling particularly good, but I just reminded myself that I was four over through 11 when I won at Merion (in the 2013 US Open) and bounced back from that," Rose said.
"So it was nice to birdie 14 straight away and take advantage of the par fives, and then I made a nice long putt at 17 to get it to under par for the round. So from that point I felt like I was back in the tournament."
Morrison also recorded five birdies and two bogeys in an up and down round but he picked up a shot on the last to move him into a share of ninth.
"I'm very pleased, I played great all day," he said. "I made a couple of silly bogeys, but you're going to make bogeys out there. It's an amazing golf course. It's up there as one of the best rounds I've played for sure.
"You know you're here by merit. Everyone is here because they've earned it. It's probably the best field you'll get all year. And it seems more pleasing to know you qualified to get here through hard work. It's a nice feeling.
"I've got past that first few Majors to get the T-shirts and hats and blankets. And I feel like I'm actually here to compete. I'm here to play well and I've done that."
Martin Kaymer, who won the tournament last time it was held here at Whistling Straits in 2010, was four under walking up the ninth, his last, but registered a double bogey to drop to two under andAnirban Lahiri finished on the same score after a double on 18.
