Darren Clarke is just one shot off the lead going into the the second round of the Mitsubishi Electric Championship in Hawaii today.
The Dungannon man shot a scintillating nine-under 63 yesterday to sit one shot off the pace set by fellow major champion Retief Goosen.
Clarke is looking to win his second Champions Tour event on the spin after ending last season with a breakthrough victory in the Timbertech Championship at the start of November.
But any competitive rust did not show after a few months off, as the 52-year-old hit all 18 greens in regulation.
Clarke made the turn in 32 strokes, which included an eagle at the par five fifth hole on the.
The former Ryder Cup captain then birdied the par five tenth before four birdies in his closing five holes capped a brilliant round.
"Well, I played nicely again today," Clarke said. "I don't know how I'm going to play the next couple of days, but it's nice to open the season on the Champions Tour with 63. Anytime you shoot 63, it's good, but to do it at the start of the year is especially nice."
Clarke only has Goosen ahead of him after the South African briefly threatened a 59 before closing with four consecutive pars for a 62.
"You shoot 10 under, you make everything and that's what happened today," he said.
"I saw the greens yesterday in the pro-am, I made nine birdies and today I made 10 birdies. So, I'm seeing the lines very well on the greens at the moment and the putter's working."
Goosen and Clarke will go off in the last pairing today at 11.15pm (Irish time).
