Brooks Koepka carded an incredible bogey free 63 in the first round of the US PGA Championship and then fired an ominous warning to his rivals at Bethpage State Park BK Course.
The American arrived on Long Island to take on one of the toughest golf courses on the planet - and 99 of the top 100 in the Official World Golf Ranking - not only as defending champion but as a two time reigning U.S. Open winner.
And he showed why he is regarded as a Major Championship specialist, making seven birdies to open up a one shot lead over New Zealand's Danny Lee, with Englishman Tommy Fleetwood three shots further back.
In doing so, he recorded the lowest opening round by a defending US PGA champion, became the first player to record multiple rounds of 63 in the same Major, and the first player to shoot 63 at a Major in consecutive years - after achieving the feat last season at Bellerive Country Club.
But he insisted he was far from the finished article and that, at just 29 years of age, there was better to come.
"I've never been this confident," he said. "I think I'm still learning, understanding my game and I've figured it out. I think over the next few years I'm excited for what's to come.
"That was one of the best rounds I've played, probably, as a professional.
"This golf course is brutal. It tests every asset of your game. You've got to drive the ball straight, it's long so you've got to hit it far and really position yourself with some of these shots in. You can't miss, you can't take a shot off, and that's what I love.
"The funny thing is, it could have been a lot lower."
A 40 footer on the tenth set the tone for Koepka and the putter stayed hot with an effort from 20 feet on the 14th. He needed no such heroics after stunning shots into the greens at the 18th and first handed him the solo lead, but he was soon joined by Fleetwood.
I've never been this confident. That was one of the best rounds I've played, probably, as a professional - Brooks Koepka
The 2017 Race to Dubai Champion started his round with a bogey but hit smart approaches into the 15th and 16th before holing from 16 feet on the first.
A wonderful tee shot into the par three third brought another birdie and when he took advantage of the par five next, Fleetwood was tied for the lead.
That would be as close as he got, however, as Koepka holed a 13 footer on the third, sandwiched excellent par saves on the fourth and sixth with a 16 foot birdie putt on the fifth, and holed from 33 feet on the last for a spectacular round.
Fleetwood dropped shots on the fifth and eighth but hit back on the ninth.
Lee produced the performance of the afternoon, taking centre stage over a decade after he became the European Tour's youngest winner as an amateur at the Johnnie Walker Classic.
He birdied the second but gave the shot back on the fifth before birdieing four of his next five. The 28-year-old made another gain on the 14th but dropped a shot on the next before producing a birdie-birdie finish.
Frenchman Mike Lorenzo-Vera birdied the 16th and 18th in a 68 that left him at two under alongside Americans Luke List, Pat Parez and Chez Reavie, and South Korean Sunghoon Kang.
England's Matt Wallace was six shots off the lead alongside Major Champions Jason Day, Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson and Jordan Spieth, Americans Patrick Cantlay and Rickie Fowler, and South Korea's Si Woo Kim.
