Angel Cabrera held the lead after the opening round of the Wells Fargo Championship in Charlotte after he carded a six under par 66.
The Argentinian thrived on the new Bermuda grass greens and hit seven birdies, with the only blot on his card a bogey at the fourth as he finished the round holding a one stroke lead over Americans Phil Mickelson and Martin Flores, who were tied for second.
Stewart Cink, Jonathan Byrd and Webb Simpson held a three-way tie for fourth place with a cluster of nine players including US Open Champion Justin Rose, two-time Major winner Rory McIlroy, Germany’s Martin Kaymer and Scotland's Martin Laird tied for seventh on three under.
Rose arguably had the shot of the round after he made a 75 foot putt to claim an eagle on the par five fifth.
Cabrera parred the first two holes before claiming a birdie on the third, although that was cancelled out on the next hole with a bogey.
Three more birdies saw the 44 year old go out in 33 and a further three on the back nine in consecutive holes from ten to 12 saw him finish on 66.
The two-time Major winner was pleased with his first round performance and praised the changes made to the course, saying: "It was a really good first round. I played really good on the greens.
"The changes are really good and on the 16th hole it is a really good change.
"I felt really good putting."
Northern Ireland's McIlroy started on the back nine and came into the clubhouse with 69 after three bogeys and six birdies in his opening round.
However, despite not recording as low a score as others on the course, the 24 year old was boosted by his putting performance.
"I felt like I played solid," he said. "I gave myself plenty of looks for birdies and I felt like I putted a little better today than I have done in the past few weeks.
"I was looking to go a couple more under par after the turn but I bogeyed three and four but bounced back nicely on five and six and I was trying to squeeze a couple more but I think anything sub 70 today is a good score because the wind is a little gusty out there."
