American Michael Putnam holds a one-shot lead after the first round of the Humana Challenge in La Quinta.
The 31-year-old had a slow start to his round as he parred the first three holes before notching his first birdie of the day on the fourth, but was quickly knocked back to even-par with a bogey on the sixth.
Two birdies rallied Putnam to put him in a decent position going into the back nine, where he surged through the pack with a series of excellent shots.
The American birdied every hole on the back nine, bar the 11th, to move to nine-under in the competition and to give him a one-shot lead over his rivals with a round of 63.
Italy's Francesco Molinari and Americans Mark Wilson, Blake Adams, John Peterson and Scott Pinckney are just one shot off the pace after firing rounds of 64 to leave them on eight-under.
Patrick Reed and Matt Kuchar are among the other notable names in the chasing pack in tied-third place on seven-under after the first round in California.
Simon Sinclair
