Cameron Smith shot a first-day 65 and will enter the second round of the Sentry Tournament of Champions holding a one-shot lead over a trio of names, including Jon Rahm, Patrick Cantlay and Daniel Berger.
The Aussie opened with par-bogey at the Plantation Course but then reeled off five birdies and two eagles over his final 16 holes to reach 8-under par.
“Yeah, I mean, I started off pretty terribly, to be honest,” said Smith. “I hit a couple of nice shots in and my yardages weren’t quite on point, I guess.
“Yeah, I just needed those two eagles to get a really low one happening. Obviously two really long putts and probably quite fortunate that they went in, but they went in.”
Rahm, Cantlay and Berger carded matching scores of 7-under 65.
Justin Thomas, a two-time winner, and tournament favorite, opened with a 74 and sits in last-place on 1-over par.
Sentry Tournament of Champions
Top 10: Leaderboard
1. Cameron Smith -8 (65)
2. Jon Rahm -7 (66)
2. Daniel Berger -7 (66)
2. Patrick Cantlay -7 (66)
5. Sungjae Im -6 (67)
5. Erik van Rooyen -6 (67)
5. Kevin Na -6 (67)
8. Talor Gooch -5 (68)
8. Collin Morikawa -5 (68)
8. Joel Dahmen -5 (68)
8. Brooks Koepka -5 (68)
8. Garrick Higgo -5 (68)
