The Honda Classic: Round 1 notebook

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• In the morning wave, New South Wales' Nathan Green fired a bogey-free, 5-under 65 to claim a share of the first-round lead with q-school grad Michael Connell.

• Green is making his sixth start of the season, with a season-best T8 at the Sony Open in Hawaii. His 5-under 65 is his best start since firing a 62 in the opening round of the 2008 Valero Texas Open. It is also his lowest round in five starts at The Honda Classic. He has competed in each The Honda Classic since 2006, with a best finish being third in 2008.

• Green broke into the winner's circle for the first time on the PGA TOUR at last year's RBC Canadian Open, following a sudden death playoff with Retief Goosen.

• Green hit 12 of 18 greens in regulation and needed just 25 putts on the round. Historically, Green has been solid on the green. He ranked eighth in 2007 and fourth in 2008. However, last year he sank all the way to 123rd in putting.

This marks the second opening-round lead of Green's career (2008 Valero Texas Open/T30).

• Michael Connell, 34, fired a career-low 5-under 65 to take a share of the first-round lead with Nathan Green in his 29th PGA TOUR start and fourth this year. His best 2010 performance came in his last start at the Maykoba Golf Classic, where he finished T28.

• Prior to this year, Connell had not competed on either the PGA TOUR or Nationwide Tour since 2006. His exempt status in 2010 comes by virtue of a T19 at the PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament in 2009.

• Incidentally, the two-time All-American played on the same college team at Mississippi State with Alex Rocha, who trails the leaders by just one stroke.

• The last first-round leader/co-leader to carry that lead to the winner's circle at The Honda Classic was Justin Leonard in 2003, when he carded an opening 63 en route to a one-shot win over Davis Love III and Chad Campbell.

• The first-round leader/co-leader has gone on to win two of eight stroke-play events on the PGA TOUR this season, most recently Dustin Johnson at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

• Playing in just his fourth PGA TOUR event, Rocha birdied his first three holes en route to a 4-under 66. He trails Nathan Green and Michael Connell by a stroke. This is Rocha's first PGA TOUR start since missing the cut at the 2003 Southern Farm Bureau Classic.

• Born in San Paulo, Rocha made 15 starts on the European Tour in 2009, with a best finish of T28 at the Open de Andalucia de Golf. Rocha made three Nationwide Tour starts last year, missing the cut in two of them. His best career finish on the European Tour was sixth place at the 2006 Cadillac Russian Open.

• London's Oliver Wilson joined Green and Connell, as one of just three to post a bogey-free round Thursday. Wilson shot a 4-under 66 and trails Green by just a stroke.

• Wilson is making his 11th career start on the PGA TOUR and second of the year. Last month, he lost to Sergio Garcia in the quarterfinals at the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship. Wilson has enjoyed prior World Golf Championships events. Of the nine PGA TOUR starts he made in 2009, his best finish is a T5 at the World Golf Championships-CA Championship and a T11 at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational.

• On the European Tour in 2009, Wilson recorded a pair of runner-up finishes, first at the HSBC Champions, and then again at the Volvo World Match Play Championship. He owns nine overall European Tour runner-up finishes.

• Colombia's Camilo Villegas birdied the par-5 18th to shoot a 4-under 66 and trail Green and Connell by one a week after opening the Waste Management Phoenix Open with a 9-under 62. This is his third start of the year.

• Villegas is competing in The Honda Classic for the fifth consecutive year. His best finish is a T2 from 2007.

• Earlier this week, Villegas was in Colombia to help kick off a new Nationwide Tour event, the Pacific Rubiales Bogota Open.

• Among those at 3-under after the morning wave was 1999 The Honda Classic champion Vijay Singh. In addition to that win, he has amassed an additional three top-10 finishes here. Singh, who has not competed at The Honda Classic since 2005 (T2), is making his ninth start in the event. He has yet to miss a cut.

• Anthony Kim posted five birdies in a seven-hole stretch beginning at the 10th en route to a 2-under 68. A costly double bogey at the par-3 17th halted his run at the top of the leaderboard. He trails Nathan Green's lead by three strokes.

• Kim competed at The Honda Classic in 2007 and 2008, finishing T46 and T49, respectively.

• Past champions of The Honda Classic participating this week include Y.E. Yang, Ernie Els, Mark Wilson, Todd Hamilton, Justin Leonard, Mark Calcavecchia, Stuart Appleby and Tim Herron.

• Defending Honda Classic champion Y.E. Yang struggled in Round 1 with a 9-over 79, no thanks to a quintuple bogey nine at the par-4 11th.

• Four players managed their way through the "Bear Trap (Nos. 15-17) in 2 under -- Matt Bettencourt, Mike Weir, Martin Flores and David Duval.

• Brett Wetterich made his return to the PGA TOUR for the first time since the 2008 Memorial Tournament. He was sidelined for all of 2009 with a shoulder injury. Under a Major Medical Exemption, Wetterich has 17 events to earn $771,077, which coupled with 2008 earnings of $121,625, would equal No. 125 from the 2008 money list to earn a Major Medical Extension for the remainder of the 2010 season. Wetterich shot a 3-over 73 in Round 1

• The scoring average in the morning was 72.10, nearly two strokes more than the TOUR average of 70.49. Afternoon scoring average was 72.72.