Two closing bogeys denied Noh Seung-yul the first round lead as Hunter Mahan and Scotland’s Russell Knox tied for top spot on six under par in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in California.
Two-time Ryder Cup player Mahan recorded five birdies in his opening seven holes en route to a round of 66 at the Pebble Beach Course.
Knox was playing on the Monterey Peninsula course and his six under 64 included eight birdies and two bogeys as he and American Mahan top the leaderboard by a single stroke.
Seung-yul and England’s Greg Owen are in a tie for third alongside four other players after carding five under pars round at the Monterey Peninsula course.
The 40 year old Owen, a former European Tour winner, picked up shots on his first two holes and added three more in an unblemished round to leave himself in a good position.
American duo Matt Every and Ted Potter Jr played on the Pebble Beach course and are also on five under, alongside compatriot Scott Langley and Japan’s Ryuji Imada (both Monterey Peninsula) and South Korea’s Seung-yul, who was competing at the Shore Course.
England’s Lee Westwood was further stroke behind after signing for a round of 68 at the end of his round on the Pebble Beach course.
The World Number Eight hit ten of 14 fairways and 16 of 18 greens in regulation.
"My game is in good shape and there's a lot of weeks that I have not been to in the last few years that I'm looking forward to going back to again, weeks like this, Arnold Palmer's tournament, Bay Hill, the Memorial are all on the schedule,” he said.
“So it's going to be an exciting year and hopefully a big year."
