Englishman Luke Donald is one shot off the lead at the Deutsche Bank Championship at TPC Boston after shooting a five-under 66 in the first round.
The world number one carded six birdies and one bogey as he finished in a quartet including Masters champion Charl Schwartzel that are one behind American Troy Matteson.
"Sometimes I've not played that great in the first round and I've been playing catch-up so it's nice to post five under. I'm in a great position," 34-year-old Donald said.
"The last month or so I haven't short-gamed it well enough - I haven't made those putts when I needed to. Today I did.
"It's nice to see the putter warming up a little bit."
The Deutsche Bank Championship is the second leg of the lucrative four-event end-of-season FedEx Cup play-offs.
Donald, who currently tops both the US and European Tour money lists, currently lies fifth in the FedEx standings.
"There's a little bit more urgency to do well and win because it is the play-offs and with the points being so much more there's a lot of value in winning."
The top 70 after this week's championship will qualify for the third event, the BMW Championship at Cog Hill, which begins on September 15.
Pascal Lemesre
