Shane Lowry enjoyed a superb finish to his opening round at the Honda Classic as he moved within two shots of the early lead in Florida.
The Irishman endured an up-and-down round in the blustery conditions at PGA National, reeling off three straight birdies from the fourth only to bogey the seventh and eighth.
Another shot went at the 10th and he followed a birdie at 13 with his fourth bogey of the day at the next, but he rolled in a 17-foot putt for birdie at 17 and then knocked a superb 265-yard three-iron to three feet at the last to set up an eagle which capped an entertaining 67.
Describing his stunning second at 18, Lowry told Sky Sports 4: "I hit a great drive down there and had 215 front, 243 flag and wind howling out of the left. It was a really horrible shot, and I was just trying to get it in the bunker left or just past the bunker and try and make four. It was straight at the flag and just stayed there and it was nice.
"I told Darren, my caddie, I didn't fancy the shot. But like all day, there's so many tough shots, so you have to go ahead and commit to it. The whole golf course is definitely one of the toughest I've played. All day it was mentally very tough and draining and I'll definitely sleep tonight."
Lowry is making his debut at Palm Beach Gardens following encouraging performances in the Farmers Insurance Open and the Waste Management Phoenix Open, finishing in ties for 13th and sixth respectively, although he could not quite breach the top 40 at Pebble Beach a fortnight ago.
Reflecting on his form during the West Coast Swing, Lowry said: "It's been pretty good. I did okay at Torrey Pines and played nicely at Phoenix. I felt for 54 holes, I played good enough golf to win the tournament, but on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning I didn't play great.
"But I finished strongly there, and I'm here this week on a very tough golf course, but a golf course I actually like. It's my first time here and hopefully I can keep it going for the weekend."
Meanwhile, Phil Mickelson opened with a solid one-under 69 and hinted that the Champions Course could have been rendered unplayable in the breezy conditions had the greens not been soft and receptive.
"It was very, very challenging, and the wind was strong, and so it was difficult to get the right club selection, and the crosswinds off a lot of the tees were very challenging," said the left-hander.
"But the greens were soft and that made the course playable. If the greens were firm, some of these holes, I don't know if we would have really been able to hit them. But they were soft, they were receptive and that allowed us to - if we judged the wind right - have a few putts at birdies."