Troy Matteson holed a bunker shot as he closed with four birdies to take a one-stroke lead after day one of the CIMB Classic in Malaysia.
As Matteson posted his eight-under-par 63 at The Mines, Tiger Woods recorded successive bogeys at the end of the front nine, but then came an inward 31 that brought the 14-major champion from eight back to only three behind.
Woods, returning to the course where he and Mark O'Meara won the World Cup in 1999, will resume his pursuit of a fourth win of the season in joint-seventh place.
"Three or four under par was my number on the back nine," the world number two said after three birdies in the last four.
"If I could shoot that I'm still right in the ball game. I happened to get one more, which was a bonus.
"It's going to take 20-plus this week to win the tournament, so I've got to be aggressive and we've got to go get it."
Matteson, ranked 156th in the world, edged ahead of compatriot Robert Garrigus, Jeff Overton and Brian Harman in the 48-man PGA Tour-sanctioned event.
"The pin is really tricky on 18," the 32-year-old two-time winner said.
"I knew I'd be doing good if I could leave myself seven or eight feet for par and it bounced and slam-dunked in the hole.
"That's the first time all year the ball has managed to hit the pin and stay in the hole."
Scotland's Martin Laird hit back from an opening bogey to shoot 68, but defending champion Bo Van Pelt, winner of the Perth International last Sunday, had to be content with a 70.
Well over half the field are American tour stars, but Malaysia's Danny Chia, Indian Gaganjeet Bhullar and South African Jbe Kruger all matched Woods' round.
