Camilo Villegas eagled early and made a string of birdies late for a 9-under 63 on the easier North Course, giving him a three-shot lead in the Buick Invitational on Thursday as he goes for a quirky hat trick.
A victory this week would be his third straight at a tournament where Tigers Woods was the absent titleholder.
Villegas won the BMW Championship and U.S. Tour Championship last autumn _ both won by Woods the previous year _ and he got off to a blazing start on a cloudy, chilly day along the Pacific bluffs.
He hit a lob wedge over the bunker and into the hole for eagle on the par-4 second hole to quickly put his name atop the leaderboard, then built his lead with three birdies in a four-hole span on the back nine.
Davis Love III and Aaron Baddeley each shot 66 on the North while playing in the same group.
The best score on the South Course, site of the U.S. Open last summer, belonged to Scott Sterling and Matthew Goggin at 69. Given the disparity of these courses, the leaderboard doesn't sort itself out until everyone has played both sides.
Phil Mickelson, a three-time winner of the Buick Invitational, put together a solid round of 70 on the South Course with a few big par saves, including a 15-footer on his final hole.
British Open and U.S. PGA champion Padraig Harrington, making his U.S. season debut, started strong with three birdies on the opening four holes of the North Course, but a four-putt double bogey on the 17th sent him to a 71.
Woods was the four-time defending champion at the Buick Invitational, but still was recovering from season-ending surgery on his left knee _ a week after his U.S. Open playoff victory.
"I'm glad he's not here," Villegas said. "He plays pretty good around here, I can tell you that."
Villegas wasn't too shabby on the North Course, which was more than 3 1/2 strokes easier than the South, but still no bargain with blustery, cool conditions, along with greens that were firmer than usual with no water on them in anticipation of rain this weekend.
Coming off a missed cut last week in the FBR Open, Villegas opened with a simple birdie on the par-5 first, then made a mistake with his tee shot on the 326-yard second hole by hitting his drive to the right, 50 yards from the flag with a bunker in the way.
Using a new 63-degree sand wedge, he popped it up over the sand and never saw it go in the hole.
"I had a decent lie," Villegas said. "I just puffed it up in the air, and I knew it was good, but I didn't see the ball go in. My caddie said, 'It went in.' Early in the round, not much of a reaction."
He made some big putts on the back nine, including a 25-foot birdie on the 14th with a big break to the left. That followed a chip that bounced harder than he expected, part of the difficult of playing the firm greens.
It should get tougher on Friday.
The average score on the South Course was 75.37, which was why Pat Perez was smiling after a 73. "That's like 69," he said.
Villegas had the right attitude going into his second round.
"The rough is up. It's tough. It was very firm during the pro-am," he said. "If it rains a little, it's going to get softer, the rough is going to get a little more severe. Who knows, man? Just go out there and hit some shots."
Love was pleased with a 66, for no other reason than it kept him near the top of the leaderboard going to the South Course.
"You've got to get off to a good start no matter what," Love said. "Because three rounds on the South will bring you down."
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