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.
