South Africa's Brenden Pappas fired a nine-under-par 63 on Thursday to take the lead early in the first round of the Funai Classic.
Pappas leads by one over Pat Perez, while veterans David Peoples and Dan Forsman share third place on 65.
World number one Tiger Woods, who has won the tournament twice, carded a 66 and is tied with Australia's Geoff Ogilvy, Corey Pavin and Ben Crane. The Funai is being played over two par-72 courses, the Palm and Magnolia, for the first two rounds.
The final two rounds will be played at the Magnolia.