Séamus Power finished his opening round of the 3M Open with an eagle to sit six shots adrift of clubhouse leader Ben Kohles in Minnesota.
A wobble at the 14th threatened to undo some of his earlier good work, but the Waterford native holed out from 135 yards at the last to card a a three under 68 and a tie for 25th.
Starting out with successive birdies at TPC Twin Cities in Blaine – including a 20ft putt at the second – was a decent start for the 39-year-old, and he picked up further shots at the sixth and eighth.
Trouble arrived off the tee at the par-4 ninth, slicing right off the tee and ending up on the rough on the opposite side with his next as he dropped his first shot of the round.
A birdie at the 12th moved him to four under, though that was given back immediately at the next.
The low point of the round came at the 14th. His drive found the sand, and was unable to correct the error, pulling his approach to the left and into the water as he slumped to a double bogey.
However a spectacular iron shot at the last ensured a brilliant finish to his round.
The man to catch is Ben Kohles of the United States, who carded a scintillating round of 62 to open a two-shot lead over compatriots Gary Woodland and Jackson Koivun, as well as Emiliano Grillo of Argentina.
World number one Scottie Scheffler – back in action after his defence of the Claret Jug ended with a tied fourth finish in the Open at Royal Birkdale – is three off the lead.
Scheffler started on the 10th and went into the turn two under before picking up four more birdies in a blemish-free 65, holing 134 feet of putts in his first appearance at the tournament.
Grillo had looked on course to be well clear at the top of the leaderboard when eight under after 14 following a run of three straight birdies, but then made successive bogies from the 16th before recovering one shot on the last to finish seven under and set the clubhouse target.