Englishman Ian Poulter was mildly satisfied with a three-under-par 69 in the opening round at the Players Championship at Sawgrass.
Poulter, out in the first threesome of the day off the 10th tee, took good advantage of idyllic morning conditions. He made two straight bogeys soon after the turn, but could hardly complain about a score that gave him a share of the early clubhouse lead with Australian Steve Elkington and American Heath Slocum.
"I made a couple of bogeys, which was frustrating, but you're going to make a couple of mistakes around this course and the mistakes I made were just single bogeys, which is nice since I have been making double bogeys of late," said the 32-year-old from Buckinghamshire.
"I have been making an awful lot of bogeys lately. Last week I made 17 birdies and one eagle and shot two under par, which is insane."
Poulter birdied the famous island-green 17th as well as the tough par-four 18th to reach the turn at three under, before stumbling.
His first bogey, at his 12th hole, was a three-putt, which he described as a "silly mental error", while at the next hole he yanked a pitch from only 84 yards into a greenside bunker.
However, he finished strongly with two birdies in the final three holes. At the par-four seventh he rolled in a 20-footer, before hitting a wedge to six feet at the par-five ninth.
This week's tournament, with a £4.75million purse, is the richest in golf, but it also offers something else that has not gone unnoticed by Poulter.
"There are huge world ranking points and obviously that will contribute to the Ryder Cup standings, and that's obviously what I'm playing for this year, to make the side," he said.
Brian Davis, the only other British player with an early tee time, struggled to a 77.