Davis off to a fast start

Englishman Brian Davis holds a one-shot lead after the first round of the RBC Heritage, having carded an opening 65.

Davis, who is still looking for his first PGA Tour victory, notched up eight birdies in fourteen holes as he edged ahead on five-under.

The 38-year-old came closest to breaking his PGA duck at Hilton Head Island in 2010 when he called a two-shot penalty on himself during a play-off with Jim Furyk. While Davis received much praise for his decision, it didn’t erase the hurt of the defeat.

“I’d like to do something else in this tournament so I don’t get remembered just for that,” he told the official PGA website.

It seems luck may be on his side this year as he was spurred into life by a bogey on the fourth, birding four of the remaining five holes on the back nine – including a chip-in at nine – to take the turn on three under. Four more birdies and a lone birdie saw him round out the day in style.

“I wasn’t worried about my score or about my misses, I was just playing,” Davis added of his round.

Charley Hoffman and Kevin Streelman are one shot off the pace after shooting rounds of 66.

Marc Lieshman and Jason Day, who were so close to securing Masters glory last week, made sure the Australian flag was once again flying high on the leaderboard notched up faultless rounds of 67. They are joined by Jason Wagner on four under.

A group of 16 players that include Webb Simpson, Hunter Mahan, Tim Clark, Ryo Ishikawa and defending champion Carl Pettersson are a shot back on three-under.

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