Ross Fisher was left to rue a horror hole that prevented him making a bigger impression on the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational overnight leaderboard.
Fisher, a debutant at the Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio, had quickly got a feel for the par-70, 7,400-yard South Course on Thursday.
The European Open champion had joined clubhouse leader Retief Goosen on four under par after 16 holes before carding a triple-bogey seven at the eighth and having to settle for a 69.
That left him one under and three shots off the lead heading into today's second round.
"I'm obviously a bit disappointed," Fisher said. "But it's like the saying, you don't win it on Thursday but you can certainly lose it.
"I'm still in there in contention. It was a tough hole and I made a bit of a hash of it, but I'm still there."
Fisher said his only experience of the course had been from afar - at home on his computer and watching Tiger Woods claim victory there year after year.
"I played it a few times on the computer so I know what it's like," he said.
"I know it's very, very long, and obviously I've watched Mr Woods win it quite a few times, so it obviously suits the bigger hitters. Hopefully it can suit me."
Paul Casey will also be hoping for more consistency on Friday after experiencing similar horrors at the start of his opening round.
Casey, starting from the first tee, began with a triple-bogey seven before eagling the par-five second and then bogeying the par-four third on the way to a hard-fought level-par 70.
"I can't explain that," Casey said. "It was a bit of a meltdown on the first, wasn't it?
"I was struggling a bit with the swing. The shoulder hurt on the way over - the whole left side I've struggled with this week. Stiffness, I think, from travelling over.
Casey remains in contention at even par, four shots off Goosen's overnight lead and he remains in confident mood.
"I'm hitting the ball well enough," he said. "I'm playing good enough golf to shoot some good numbers."
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