Golf WGC-American Express ChampionshipColin Montgomerie carried on from where he left off on Sunday to set the pace in the American Express Championship in San Francisco.
Fresh from his first victory in 19 months in the Dunhill Links Championship, Montgomerie shot a flawless, six-under-par 64 to grab the outright lead in the $4.2 million event at Harding Park outside San Francisco.
World number one Tiger Woods - seeking his 11th victory in 21 WGC events - shot a three-under 67, as did compatriots John Daly and Mark Calcavecchia.
And Spain's Sergio Garcia, playing alongside Ryder Cup team-mate Montgomerie, also came in with a 67. Garcia had fired a hat-trick of birdies from the fourth
Montgomerie admitted part of him wanted to "do a Freddie Flintoff" to celebrate his victory rather than make the long journey to the west coast of America, but there were certainly no sign of over-indulgence on the course.
Starting on the 10th, the seven-time European number one took advantage of one of only two par fives on the course with an opening birdie, and picked up another shot on the 12th.
His round really sparked into life just before the turn, however, a birdie from seven feet on the 16th followed by another on the par three 17th where his tee-shot finished just inches from the hole.
Another superb iron shot into the signature 18th made it three birdies in a row and took the 42-year-old Scot into the outright lead.
Perhaps equally significantly, it also took Montgomerie five shots clear of his nearest rival for an eighth money list title, New Zealand's Michael Campbell.
Campbell, the US Open champion, has an €125,000 lead over Montgomerie but only managed a 71.
Woods was showing no signs of the rib injury he suffered during the Presidents Cup a fortnight ago, the world number one opening with a birdie on the 10th and picking up three more to lie four under with four to play.
The British Open champion, who pushed Montgomerie into second at St Andrews, had predicted the extensively renovated municipal course could yield some low scores if the wind did not blow and that looked like being the case.
Australian Richard Green showed what was was possible with a birdie on the 10th followed by a hole-in-one on the 11th, the left-hander holing a five-iron from 194 yards.
It was not proving so easy for Sheffield's Neil Cheetham however, who was six over par after 12 holes and eventually signed for a 77.
Cheetham, ranked 430 places below playing partner and world number three Phil Mickelson, needs a good finish here to try to keep his European Tour card; he currently lies 138th on the Order of Merit.
Woods bogeyed the short eighth after missing the green with his tee-shot and had to scramble for a par on the last to record a three-under 67.
"I felt if I could shoot somewhere between two and four under par it would be pretty good," Woods said. "Looking at the pin positions it's a pretty good score. For the first day they did a pretty good job of setting up the golf course."
David Howell was among his nearest challengers on three under after making three birdies in four holes from the second.
Padraig Harrington was having a roller-coaster of a round - including a double-bogey at the par four sixth and chip-ins at the 13th and 16th - to be two over after 17 holes.
