KAPALUA, Hawaii -- Olin Browne waited six years before getting back to the winners-only Mercedes Championships, and played Thursday as if he doesn't want to wait that long again.

Browne was the only player to break 70 in blustery conditions at Kapalua and finished with a 4-under 69 to take a one-shot lead over Vijay Singh as the PGA TOUR season began as a 28-man field tackled a Plantation course that played long and soft, and deceptive because of its new greens.

Only nine players managed to break par.

"I'm thrilled to be here," Browne said. "I would like to play well enough to be invited back. And there's only one way to get back."

His 69 matched the highest score to lead after the first round in the eight years the Mercedes Championships has been played at Kapalua. Jesper Parnevik also had a 69 in 2000.

Singh, coming off a year in which he won four times but surrendered his No. 1 ranking to Tiger Woods, overcame some shaky putting with consecutive birdies down the stretch, but he tried a high pitch from just off the par-5 18th green that ran some 20 feet past the pin.

Two-time defending champion Stuart Appleby hit his tee shot into the weeds on the 17th and took bogey to settle for a 71, leaving him in a group that included David Toms, Carl Pettersson and Sergio Garcia.

Jim Furyk, who has a house beyond the 18th green, might have joined them except for a penalty stroke he called on himself on the 14th green when a gust moved his ball a fraction of an inch as he stood over a putt. He made the 5-foot putt, but had to score it as a par.

It was a tough start to the new year on a course that has rarely shown so much teeth.

Part of that was the trade wind, the first time all week it showed up with force. And a large part was the renovation to the greens, which shut the course down for four months. They are smoother and better than ever, but also running faster than players remember, which has altered some of the breaks.

"It's not the same as it's been in the past," Toms said. "It's going to take time to figure it out."

Maybe that's what has helped Browne. The 46-year-old last played the Mercedes Championships in 2000, and the only time he has been back since then was to play in the pro-am two years ago.

He earned his ticket with a one-shot victory in the Deutsche Bank Championship in September, culminating a risky process in which he revamped his swing with Jim Hardy while heading into his twilight years.

"Last year was a big step in the right direction," he said. "I'd hopefully like to continue doing it."

Browne wound up playing the final weeks of the year, then hid from his clubs until bringing his family to Maui three days before Christmas.

But even with spectacular views of the surf along the rugged coast, Browne knew he was back at work.

"I had three putts on the first three holes that were not easy, and they were all for par," he said. "That narrowed my focus in a hurry. It was able to make them, got me off to a good start."

Browne got to 5 under with a 60-foot chip, then dropped his only shot on the par-5 15th by coming up short of the green from a tough lie in the rough.

But the real test was the green.

"They're so much faster," Garcia said. "Some of the changes in the break are not what we're used to seeing."

Olin Browne made five birdies on Thursday. (Badz/PGA TOUR/WireImage)

The best example was the 18th, which plays downhill at 663 yards. Most players were just short of the green, but getting it close to the hole was next to impossible. Some tried a bump-and-run, and either hit it too hard or too soft. Singh and Toms each took it in high, only to see it roll well past.

"It's still going to be a low winning score," Garcia said. "But maybe not as low as we're used to seeing."

Pettersson, one of a dozen first-time winners last year on the PGA TOUR, had the honor of opening the season with a 3-wood that split the middle of the fairway, which is easy to do when the fairway is 70 yards wide. That might have been the only highlight of what he called a "boring" round of 71.

Considering what some others went through, boring is not all bad.

Lucas Glover, last seen holing a bunker shot on the final hole to win at Disney, made his 2006 debut with bogeys on his first four holes. The trade wind showed up, and he had a tough time judging the distance. But he got most of it back and shot 74.

Glover can be excused. During his offseason, he graduated from Clemson, got married, went on a honeymoon to New York City and came to Kapalua to start the year.

"I was anxious for this first round, anxious to see what I would do," he said. "And I did it the first four holes."

Brad Faxon, playing for the first time since surgery to repair torn ligaments in his knee, had four double bogeys in his round of 82.

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