US Tour: He didn't quite repeat the fireworks of last year's 63 but Padraig Harrington was quietly pleased to brush away some of the winter cobwebs with an opening two-under-par 69 in the Northern Trust Open at Riviera.
After a troubled front nine of two birdies and two bogeys, the British Open champion put on his scoring hat on the back nine to get to three under with just the 18th to play.
But he was somewhat dismayed to finish with a bogey after what he described as his "two best shots of the day".
Still, the early-season events are all about getting ready for April's US Masters, and Harrington finished the day just four shots behind clubhouse leader KJ Choi, who carded an immaculate, six-under-par 65.
Phil Mickelson and Luke Donald went just one better than Harrington after 68s.
"I am happy to break 70 and the round had its bright spots," Harrington said as the wind freshened for the afternoon starters.
"But I was very tentative all day and that was a shame.
"The only hole I wasn't tentative on was 18 and I made bogey. I struggled a little bit and wasn't trusting things and my focus wasn't 100 per cent.
"It went as one would expect, even though you are always optimistic.
"When I look back it is exactly what I expected. But as my Dad always said, 'you can't play well all year, so don't play well in the winter'.
"I have just got to trust it a bit more and have more faith. That takes a few weeks of competitive play.
"The more tournament rounds I have under my belt, the better.
"I am delighted to shoot 69 because I got a few putts in the hole today. Okay, I bogeyed the last after hitting probably my two best shots of the day, but thankfully I made a few early on and it is not the end of the world.
"I just need more rounds of golf, it is as simple as that. A 69 is a good start to the week and it means I can build on it. I have two-and-a-half rounds to get myself in position with nine holes to go."
A chill wind blew across Riviera when Harrington started his round alongside fellow British Open champion Todd Hamilton and the compact left-hander Eric Axley at 7.37am.
Early starter Peter Lonard wore gloves as he descended from the first tee, which towers above the 503-yard opening hole, and Harrington took a while to warm to his task on a cloudy, winter's morning.
Needing only a mid-iron to get home in two at the first, he came up short in a bunker, left his sand save in the semi-rough short of the green and chipped and putted for a laborious par five.
The 463-yard second is one of the tougher holes on the course and Harrington made life hard by pushing his three-wood tee-shot into the rough and then clipping trees with his rescue wood approach.
Bunkered right of the green, he played a spectacular, 40-yard recovery to six feet but pushed his par putt alarmingly.
A birdie at the third, where he holed from nearly 15 feet from the back fringe, got him motoring again, but scoring was already good with John Daly and Donald already in red figures.
A tricky, chip-and-putt par at the 236-yard fourth kept his momentum going, and he was soon up among the leaders courtesy of a lightning fast, 14-footer at the 199-yard sixth.
The early-season rust that was so evident at Pebble Beach last week was again apparent yesterday. But Harrington's immaculate short game saved him at the eighth, where he pulled his approach onto a hillock left of the green but saved par from eight feet.
He couldn't repeat the trick at the 458-yard ninth, which was playing into the teeth of the cold morning breeze. Short and right in two, his chipped pulled up 12 feet shot and he left the putt in the jaws to turn in level par.
The driveable 10th and par-five 11th are good birdie chances, but Harrington missed from eight feet at the former and then carved his three-wood approach to the latter behind a towering eucalyptus tree and could only make par.
The sun finally broke through at the 12th and Harrington warmed to his task, draining a 20-footer across the green for birdie before holing from just off the green at the par-three 14th to get to two under par.
A wedge to eight feet at the par-five 17th set up his fifth birdie of the day, boosting him to tied for fourth at that stage, before that unfortunate bogey at the last.
After a perfect drive, he hit his hybrid club 216 yards straight at the pin but ran through the back of the firm green and left himself a fast pitch that ran 20 feet past the hole.
Choi takes clubhouse lead
South Korea's KJ Choi fired a flawless, six-under-par 65 to grab the clubhouse lead at Riviera.
That left him one shot clear of American Kevin Na, with Chad Campbell and Vaughan Taylor on four under.
World number two Phil Mickelson was in a group of eight players on three under par following a round of 68.
Meanwhile, Ernie Els has decided to launch his 2008 PGA Tour campaign earlier than scheduled and will play in next week's WGC-Accenture Matchplay Championship, his manager has said.
The globe-trotting Els, on European Tour duty in Dubai and India over the last two weeks, had initially planned to make his first appearance in the US at the Honda Classic at the end of the month. "Ernie feels fine and will play in Tucson next week," manager Chubby Chandler said.
The Matchplay Championship, being held at Dove Mountain's Gallery Golf Club in Arizona for the second year in a row, features the top 64 players in the world.
Although South African Els has won the European Tour's World Matchplay Championship at Wentworth a record seven times, he has struggled to make an impact in the PGA Tour's equivalent.
In seven appearances, he has been knocked out in the opening round four times, most recently by Wales' Bradley Dredge last year.
LA OPEN: Early first round scores: 65- KJ Choi. 66- K Na. 67- C Campbell, V Taylor. 68- A Cejka, P Mickelson, H Mahan, L Donald, J Rollins, S Verplank, A Cabrera, B Mayfair. Selected: 69- Padraig Harrington.
