Paul Casey, Oliver Wilson and Martin Kaymer all felt well enough to tee off in the Volvo World Match Play Championship in Spain.
Top seed Casey, out of action since August 6 because of a torn rib muscle, faced Australian Scott Strange and was all square after three.
The World Number Four took the lead in his opening group match - for the first time in the event's history it is not a straight knock-out now it has moved from Wentworth to Finca Cortesin near Marbella - when his opponent bogeyed the short second.
But after Strange hit the rocks on the edge of the lake and bounded over the green at the long third Casey went into the water and lost the hole.
Wilson missed the eve-of-tournament pro-am after waking up with a recurrence of neck trouble, but after physiotherapy at 7am this morning faced Sergio Garcia and was level after two.
The Spanish star scrambled a half at the first after coming up well short of the green from the right-hand rough - Wilson was bunkered off the tee, but hit a good recovery - and they both then bogeyed the 238 yard next.
Kaymer was limping just as he was on his return last week from two months out with broken toes suffered in a go-kart accident, but an opening par four put him one-up on Australian Robert Allenby.
In the other morning match American Ryder Cup player Anthony Kim drew first blood against South African Retief Goosen with a birdie on the second, both having saved par from right of the opening green.
Casey was playing Kim later in the day and Goosen faced Strange in the other Group A game, while Wilson had to take on Kaymer in the afternoon and Garcia met Allenby.
The eight players in the other two groups had only one game today - Henrik Stenson v Simon Dyson, Rory McIlroy v Masters champion Angel Cabrera in Group C, then Lee Westwood v Jeev Milkha Singh and Camilo Villegas v Ross Fisher in Group D.
The winners of each group on Friday night qualify for the semi-finals in an event offering €750,000 to the winner.
Casey went in front again when Strange ran up a bogey six on the 575 yard fifth, but The Ryder Cup star double-bogeyed the next and fell behind when Strange birdied the 494 yard par four seventh.
Wilson and Garcia shared the first four holes, including the third and fourth in birdies, while Kim was three up on Goosen after five and Kaymer led Allenby by one after three.
