Starting on the back nine, Campbell was even after seven holes but got his round going with an eagle on the par-five 17th, holing a 70-yard wedge to make the turn at two-under.

He was able to carry the momentum through the rest of his round, shooting a 30 on the front, registering six birdies.

“It was obviously a good day,” Campbell said. “It was a tough day out there with the wind blowing. I holed out on 17 which kind of turned everything around and kind of got the momentum going.”

Campbell is two shots clear of Brett Wetterich and has a three-shot advantage over Sweden’s Jesper Parnevik.

Wetterich, whose best PGA Tour finish was a tie for eighth here in 2002, caded a bogey-free 66. Parnevik, whose last win on the PGA Tour was here in 2001, fired six birdies and a bogey.

Parnevik, who turned 40 on Monday, needed only 24 putts during his round and likes the way he has been playing of late.

“My game, actually, felt really good last week as well,” Parnevik said. “So even though I have not practised very much this week, I have to admit, I felt something good was about to happen.”

Aaron Baddeley, Woody Austin and Nick Watney are tied for fourth at four-under.

A group of 14 players, including defending champion Todd Hamilton and Kevin Na, the tour’s youngest player, completed rounds of three-under 69 and are tied for seventh.

Ireland’s Graeme McDowell is a further shot back with Padraig Harrington carding a disappointing 73.

Collated first round scores in the The Honda Classic, CC at Mirasol Sunrise Course, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, United States of America (USA unless stated, par 72):

64 Chad Campbell

66 Brett Wetterich

67 Jesper Parnevik (Swe)

68 Woody Austin, Nick Watney, Aaron Baddeley (Aus)

69 Sean O’Hair, Billy Andrade, Robert Allenby (Aus), Justin Rose (Eng), Brad Faxon, Charlie Wi (Kor), Kevin Na (Kor), James Driscoll, Pat Perez, Bob Estes, Alex Cejka (Den), Jason Allred, Lee Janzen, Todd Hamilton

70 Omar Uresti, Skip Kendall, Joey Sindelar, Graeme McDowell (Irl), Ryuji Imada (Jpn), Jonathan Byrd, Tag Ridings, Patrick Sheehan, Rodney Pampling (Aus), Brian Bateman, Joey Snyder III, Gavin Coles (Aus), Lucas Glover, Tom Pernice Jnr, Daniel Chopra (Swe), Ryan Palmer, Joe Durant, Charles Warren, Robert Damron, Cameron Beckman

71 Justin Leonard, Jason Bohn, Tim Herron, Jim Furyk, Davis Love III, Mark Wilson, David Toms, Marco Dawson, Vijay Singh (Fij), Brett Quigley, Jimmy Walker, Tim Petrovic, Kevin Stadler, Doug Barron, Nick Faldo (Eng), Glen Hnatiuk (Can), Brian Davis (Eng), John Senden (Aus)

72 Craig Parry (Aus), Dan Briggs, Vaughn Taylor, John Elliott (Sco), Scott McCarron, Carl Pettersson (Swe), Bart Bryant, Tom Gillis, Billy Mayfair, John Cook, Jeff Hart, Andrew Magee, Matt Kuchar, Greg Owen (Eng)

73 Jay Williamson, Brian Gay, Glen Day, Hidemichi Tanaka (Jpn), Neal Lancaster, Rocco Mediate, Tim Clark (Rsa), J.L. Lewis, Kevin Johnson, Jim Carter, Mark Brooks, Todd Fischer, Fred Couples, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus), Mark Hensby (Aus), Scott Hend (Aus), Rob Rashell, Ben Curtis, Padraig Harrington (Irl), Joe Ogilvie, Mark Calcavecchia, Chris Riley, Briny Baird, Harrison Frazar

74 Robert Gamez, Paul Gow (Aus), Bernhard Langer (Den), DJ Brigman, Darron Stiles, D.A. Points, Scott Gutschewski, J J Henry, John Huston, Dennis Paulson, Fredrik Jacobson (Swe), Paul Azinger, Roland Thatcher, Stephen Leaney (Aus), Lee Rinker

75 Brandt Jobe, Olin Browne, Dean Wilson, Matt Gogel, Hank Kuehne, Mario Tiziani, Steve Allan (Aus), Tommy Armour III, Ricky Barnes, Jeff Sluman

76 Tom Kite, Bob Ford (Eng), Brendan Jones (Aus), John Rollins, Chris Smith, Hunter Haas, Notah Begay III, Craig Bowden, Mark O’Meara

77 D.J. Trahan, Steve Pate, Phillip Price (Wal), Craig Barlow, Jeffrey Yeckes, TJ Wilson, Steve Flesch, Dudley Hart

78 Franklin Langham, Andre Stolz (Aus), Gene Fieger

79 Shaun Micheel, Craig Perks (Nzl), Steve Lowery.