Tommy Fleetwood produced a stunning chip on the last to seal a one up win over Zach Johnson and take control of Group 16 on day one of the WGC - Dell Technologies Match Play.
The Englishman is in a brilliant run of form, with his win at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and second-place at the WGC - Mexico Championship handing him a sizeable advantage in the Race to Dubai Rankings presented by Rolex.
He never trailed against the two-time Major Championship winner but was all square on the last before making an excellent birdie to go to the top of his group at Austin Country Club.
A Johnson bogey on the first handed Fleetwood the advantage but he surrendered a blemish of his own when he missed a short one on the fourth before edging back ahead with a birdie on the sixth.
Another bogey followed when he had to take a drop on the ninth and the two went blow-for-blow until a stunning approach to the last set up a closing birdie.
"It's great to get off to a good start," said Fleetwood. "The last time I played in this, I actually lost my game and then qualified. You've got to be winning your match and try to build momentum. You take one match at a time but to win the first one is great."
Matt Kuchar and Brendan Steele halved their match in Group 16.
Alex Noren got his Group 8 campaign off to a winning start by beating Thongchai Jaidee 3 and 2.
Noren holed a 19-footer for birdie on the first and was quickly two up as Jaidee bogeyed the next. A trio of pars followed from both men but a bogey from Noren on the next cut the gap.
It was a scrappy affair and back-to-back bogeys from Jaidee put Noren in command before a double-bogey on the ninth cut the gap.
It's great to get off to a good start. You take one match at a time but to win the first one is great - Tommy Fleetwood
A Jaidee birdie on the tenth had him very much back in the frame but a Noren eagle on the 12th and Jaidee blemish on the 15th were the beginning of the end.
"I got off to a good start, which is nice," said Noren. "Then I had some trouble around the greens. Pretty tricky around here because the fringes are quite thick and the greens are rolling quite fast.
"It's nice you've got three matches. It's not as much gamble on the first match as usual. You need that first win and see what happens from now on."
Group 8 is an all European Tour affair and Bernd Wiesberger was a two up winner over Francesco Molinari.
The Austrian birdied the first and fourth and with Molinari dropping a shot on the third, he was quickly three up. Molinari then won three in a row from the fifth before bogeying the eighth.
The duo then exchanged holes on the 12th and 13th, and 15th and 16th before Wiesbeger birdied the last.
For me it was important to win my first match before I play against Dustin - Martin Kaymer
"It was a good game and definitely in match play, if you are on you want to keep momentum," said Wiesberger. "And if it switches the other way you want to get it back quickly. Therefore I'm just happy that I ended up at the end of the day."
Martin Kaymer won the second and never looked back in beating Jimmy Walker 3 and 2 in Group 1.
A Walker bogey on the second handed the German the advantage and while he twice battled back to all square, the US PGA Championship winner surrendered the tenth, 11th and 16th to Kaymer birdies.
World Number One Dustin Johnson also got off to a winning start in Group 1, beating Webb Simpson 5 and 3.
"For me it was important to win my first match before I play against Dustin," said Kaymer. "Dustin is a tough one and you need a little bit of confidence going into tomorrow. He doesn't make many mistakes and he's always in top form."
In Group 9, Patrick Reed halved his match against Jason Dufner and Brooks Koepka beat Kevin Kisner 6 and 5.
