PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. -- It was golf’s version of hitting for the cycle. Almost.

On Thursday during the first round of The Honda Classic, Geoff Ogilvy made one double bogey, one bogey, three birdies, one eagle and -- the rarest of the rare -- one double eagle. The only thing missing was a hole-in-one.

The resulting round of 67 staked the Aussie, just a week removed from his victory at the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship, to a share of the lead in the $5.5 million event.

Ogilvy is tied with Mathias Gronberg, David Toms and Ryuji Imada at 5 under, one stroke ahead of the field on a day when the winds gusted to 30 mph and the average score settled in at a whopping 74.277 with one group remaining on the course as darkness fell.

“All in all, an eagle and a double eagle in one round is a real bonus,” said Ogilvy, who battled back from being 2 over after his first four holes. “Not the only way you can have 5 under on a day like this, but it certainly helps to throw in some low numbers.”

The double eagle came at the sixth hole, where Ogilvy blasted a 373-yard drive that left him 180 to the pin. He called his 8-iron both the “best shot I hit all day” and “lucky” in the same breath as the ball bounced three times and made a beeline for the pin.

“I’m like, ‘You’re kidding me,’” Ogilvy said. “You don’t believe it. When everyone jumps up and down, it kind of doesn’t register for a bit.”

Ogilvy isn’t sure where the ball is now, though. He used it on the next hole, scuffed it up with a lob wedge and promptly took the ball out of play. Ogilvy said he may have autographed the ball for a kid after his round, but he’s not sure.

At least, it didn’t find a watery grave. That’s what happened to the ball that produced Ogilvy’s only ace several years ago in a European Tour event at Loch Lomond.

“So I kind of spoiled that,” he said.

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Davis Love III, who lost to Ogilvy in the finale at the Accenture Match Play Championship, put himself in contention on Thursday with a 70 that left him three strokes off the lead.

Love had played his first 16 holes in even par after making three birdies and a trio of bogeys. He moved into red numbers for the final time, though, with an eagle at the 556-yard 17th. The hole was playing downwind, and Love unleashed a 379-yard drive there, then hit his 9-iron to 21 feet, 8 inches. “That hole was playing easy,” Love, who was runner-up to Todd Hamilton at the 2004 Honda Classic, said. “That was nice after the other par five. I drove it out there perfect and I made bogey. Things like that you shoot yourself in the foot. It was a tough birdie, but it wasn’t a tough par.

“So I gave at least one away, and maybe two, there. A couple of other holes I didn’t hit good shots into the greens after driving it good. But that’s what this course will make you do. It’s hard to get the ball close to the hole.”

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Ryuji Imada had a simple plan when he teed off at 11:48 a.m. with Bob Estes and Daniel Chopra. The wind was whipping across the fairways on the Sunrise Course and scoring was difficult, at best.

Ogilvy posted a double eagle on No. 6. (Badz/PGA TOUR/WireImage)

“I’m thinking par is your friend,” Imada said. “Try to make smart decisions about where to miss the ball. A day like today, it’s all about making putts and getting it up-and-down and trying to make pars.

“Anything in red numbers is a good score today. I wasn’t really thinking about 5 under is leading, or if I shoot 5 over. I just wanted to shoot in the red numbers, that’s all.”

The more Imada played, the more he agreed with Estes’ assessment -- “it was British Open conditions with PGA TOUR setup.” Imada hung tough, though, making six birdies, an eagle and three bogeys to move into the tie at the top of the leaderboard.

Imada, who had never led a PGA TOUR event prior to Thursday, credited an adjustment he made in his putting with his improved play. He likes playing courses in difficult conditions, and he considers the 68 he shot at the U.S. Open in Pinehurst last year his career-best.

“This course has a similar setup to it,” Imada said. “If you’re not very sharp with your irons, it could roll off and be 20 yards off the green. So this course is the same kind of setup but (on) a smaller scale, I guess.

“I don’t mind tougher golf courses where even par is a great score. I’ve had more success on tougher courses than 25 under winning.