Brandt Snedeker is hopeful his game will get better and better as the week goes on at the Fiji International.
Fresh from playing a starring role in the United States' 17-11 victory over Europe at the Ryder Cup, Snedeker arrived at Natadola Bay Golf Course on Wednesday unfamiliar with the layout.
High winds played havoc with the scoring last year as Matt Kuchar won at four under par but Snedeker is confident that if the wind stays down, he will get better and better as he adjusts to his surroundings.
"It wasn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination but I was able to go out there and only make one bogey, which was nice," he said after a three under par 69.
"I got off to a good start. This golf course can definitely jump up and bite you and I avoided the big numbers today so hopefully I can go out there tomorrow morning with some good weather and light wind and be aggressive and make some birdies and jump up the leaderboard a little bit.
"It definitely changed a lot with just a little bit of wind. Yesterday we got lucky and had no wind and today we had a lot more, it changes the way you play every hole.
We're learning. It didn't cost me too many today so hopefully we can build on that for the weekend - Brandt Snedeker
"I probably made some mistakes today course management-wise. I'm hitting certain clubs off tees I probably won't tomorrow so we're learning. It didn't cost me too many today so hopefully we can build on that for the weekend.
"There's a long way to go. There's obviously some guys playing some great golf but this afternoon I'm happy with three under par.
"Tomorrow morning I need to go out there and go low. Make sure I get to six, seven, eight, nine under and hopefully put myself in a good position for the weekend."
Local hero Vijay Singh was a shot behind Snedeker and he too was pleased that the wind did not bare its teeth too aggressively on the coast.
"It was much more enjoyable to play without howling winds, at least you can control your ball and get the right club for a change," he said.
"I played very solid, made a couple of little errors, could have been one or two better but first round 70 is never bad. Hopefully it stays like this and if it gets any windier we'll have to deal with it.
"The course is playing nice, it's a beautiful day. It was nice."
