Lee Westwood made the perfect start to his 56th attempt to win a Major on a fantastic day for The European Tour Membership in Georgia.
Less than three weeks away from his 39th birthday, England's World Number Three leads The Masters Tournament after a five under par 67 that matched his lowest-ever round at Augusta National.
Westwood, runner-up to Phil Mickelson two years ago and with five top three finishes in his last nine Majors, held top spot on his own after Swede Henrik Stenson struggled to close out what had the potential to be a spectacular round on the day he turned 36.
Stenson, six under after 15, followed a three-putt bogey on the short 16th with a quadruple bogey eight at the last and had to settle for a 71.
That allowed Westwood to end the day one in front of South Africa's Louis Oosthuizen, the only man to beat him in the 2010 Open Championship at St Andrews, and Swedish Ryder Cup teammate Peter Hanson.
Scot Paul Lawrie, playing the event for the first time since 2004, eagled the 13th and 15th for a three under 69 that had set the early clubhouse target.
The 1999 Open Champion, now 43, had never broken 70 in 14 previous rounds - and had not managed an eagle either in 264 previous holes at the venue for the season's first Major.
For his two eagles Lawrie first of all hit a rescue club to three feet on the 13th and then he chipped in from 45 feet at the 15th.
He was joined on three under by fellow Europeans Miguel Angel Jiménez and Francesco Molinari, as well as American trio Bubba Watson, Ben Crane and Jason Dufner, as European Tour Members ended the day occupying six of the top nine places on the leaderboard.
Rory McIlroy recovered from an opening double bogey to hand in a 71, finishing with back-to-back birdies, Tiger Woods bogeyed the last two for a 72, while Mickelson and World Number One Luke Donald could do no better than 74 and 75 respectively.
Westwood, who had four successive birdies from the fifth to turn in 32, said: "I played well - there was no weakness out there today in my game.
"I hit it close, hit a lot of fairways and rolled in some nice putts.
"I've been playing well all year, so I was pretty confident, but trying not to let myself get carried away or anything.
"I just wanted to start steady and strong and play my way into the tournament, which I've done.
"When this golf course is soft, it obviously gives you a bit more of a chance.
"I'm right where I want to be and looking forward to the next three days. Hopefully I can stay in the position that I'm in."
Hanson, who rolled in a 40 footer for one of six birdies on the 12th as he played Amen Corner in two under par said: “I’m feeling pretty good about my game, but I think the main thing today was to end up in this group playing with Phil and Hunter [Mahan].
“It's always a pleasure playing with Phil, even though it wasn't his best day today. It was really nice fun out there.
“I was hitting the ball very good, and my iron shots ended up in the spots where I needed them to be, and that's kind of key here.
“It's a scary golf course in a way because if you're not playing well you're going to end up in a lot of difficult places and end up making bogeys.”
