The National Times - Australia's Lee leads PGA Tour Championship

With a $10 million top prize up for grabs at East Lake in Atlanta, Georgia, Collin Morikawa, Chris Gotterup and Norway's Viktor Hovland were two strokes behind the 28-year-old leader.

World number one Scottie Scheffler was among a group trailing Lee by three, after a bogey-free 65, with six-time Major winner Rory McIlroy six shots adrift on two-under par.

The opening-day heroics from Lee, ranked 31st in the world, were at stark odds with his playoffs so far -- he finished second-from-last at last week's BMW Championship, and 55th a week earlier.

"Very average two weeks, the last two weeks -- it was probably the saddest I've been on the golf course, which is not good," said Lee.

But "this week was a brand-new week, and we obviously play from scratch and everyone plays from the same score," he added.

"Being out there, I thought why not give it a good crack and have a good attitude?"

Lee's opening round featured eight birdies, including a 21-foot putt on eight that rattled the cup before dropping, and no bogeys.

Lee -- runner-up at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February, and at last month's Scottish Open -- had quickly found himself in the unusual position of playing solo.

His Thursday playing partner, JJ Spaun withdrew with a shoulder injury, having struggled through just five holes at four-over par.

"It was a little strange at first, just like looking for a playing partner and you're just there by yourself," admitted Lee.

"It was more just maintaining speeds and not rushing because I would just catch the group in front and wait. So I had to just slow down a little bit. It worked out."

Spaun said it was "disappointing" to withdraw having tried to push through the pain, but "didn't want to cause any further damage."

Tied for second, two strokes behind Lee on six-under, were two-time Major winner Morikawa, 2023 Tour Championship winner Hovland, and eighth-ranked Gotterup.

"Out here these greens are fast. It's probably the fastest I've seen them over the past few years, but I saw them really well today," said Morikawa.

A further shot back were Americans Ryan Gerard and Akshay Bhatia, Sweden's Ludvig Aberg, and Scheffler.

The world number one birdied his final two holes, getting up-and-down from a bunker thanks to a 10-foot putt on the 18th to stay firmly in the race.

Lee's compatriot Adam Scott and reigning British Open champion Ryan Fox were among a group on four-under that also included last year's Tour Championship winner Tommy Fleetwood.

E.Cox--TNT