Padraig Harrington's great run of form continued in the United States on Thursday as he finished the opening round of the Tour Championship in a tie for second, one stroke behind American Sean O'Hair in Atlanta.
O'Hair leads major winners Tiger Woods, Harrington and Stewart Cink in the US PGA Tour's annual FedEx Cup finale at East Lake Golf Club after shooting a four under par 66.
With not only a USD$1.35m first prize on the line but also a USD$10m bonus to the FedEx Cup standings champion, there is plenty to keep the big guns motivated in Georgia this weekend.
As the current standings leader Woods is in pole position in that regard, a win on Sunday for his sixth title of the year also guarantees the mega bonus.
O'Hair, lying seventh in the standings, and Ireland's Harrington, lying sixth, both need a victory and also Woods to finish third or lower, O'Hair also requiring second-placed Steve Stricker to go the same way as the World Number One.
All of the above bar world number two Stricker will be happy with their progress in that regard, with Harrington continuing to mine a rich seam of recent form.
"This is quite exciting for me because obviously I've had a poor year for the first six or seven months and I was doing other things shall we say," Harrington said.
"I have to turn it all around now.
"I've had a good few weeks and winning here this week would turn it into a spectacular year.
"I kind of like the idea of that, kind of sneaking in and having a great year."
The three-time Major winner's five successive top ten finishes propelled him to sixth place in the standings and he began the right way in Georgia, reaching four under par at halfway on the par 70, 7,154 yard course.
That gave the Dubliner an early share of the lead with O'Hair, who sank a 56 foot birdie putt at the fourth, with Open Championship winner Cink having already returned to the clubhouse with a three under 67.
Harrington's only bogey of the day came at the par five 15th hole, where he failed to get out of a greenside bunker at the first attempt, while Woods had a mid-round wobble following a birdie at the third, hitting bogeys at six and eight that took him to one over par before sending down five birdies in the next seven holes to move right onto O'Hair's shoulder.
Cink, who began the tournament with only a slim chance of landing the big bonus prize from 26th place in the standings, had been first to hit the front at four under after nine holes in his home state..
One birdie followed on the back nine, book-ended with bogeys at the 13th and 15th holes and Cink reached the clubhouse with a 67 at three under.
Fellow 2009 Major winner Lucas Glover, the US Open Championship winner, finished a shot further back with a 68 with South Africa's Retief Goosen and Americans Dustin Johnson and Steve Marino carding 69s.
England's Luke Donald, the only other European in the field besides Harrington, carded a level-par 70, to join a large group including European Tour member Zach Johnson.and affiliate member Scott Verplank as well as world number two Steve Stricker.
A win for Woods, Stricker, second in the standings, and Jim Furyk, third, would guarantee them the FedEx Cup, as it would fourth-placed Johnson and fifth place Heath Slocum, who has much work to do to make that a reality after an opening 73.
US PGA champion Y E Yang, South Africa's Ernie Els carded 71s while Masters champion Angel Cabrera shot a 72 and Australia's Geoff Ogilvy a 75.
