A buoyant Rory McIlroy turned one eye towards his latest attempt to win the Masters after opening with a win in the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play.
The world number three led from start to finish to beat Scott Stallings 3&1 in their match at Austin Country Club which puts him in a strong position to reach the knockout stages.
"Obviously this part of the season you've got one eye on what you're doing now and one eye on Augusta," said McIlroy, who had a new putter in the bag and used it effectively to make six birdies, the last one a concession on the 17th which sealed victory.
"I had to respond a couple times to what Scott did on the back nine, so it was nice to sort of feel that little bit of pressure and have to hit a shot or have to make a putt."
Asked about reports that he had needed just 19 putts in a recent practice round at Augusta National, McIlroy said with a laugh: "Look, I had two good days. We played 54 holes in two days and it was good. I was really happy with where my game was. It was sort of good to see that after struggling at The Players [Championship]."
McIlroy had earlier backed the proposal from the game's governing bodies for a shorter ball to be used in elite competition, a change which could reduce hitting distances by around 15 yards if implemented from 2026.
"It would be like me going back to my 2015 equipment and I seemed to do OK then," McIlroy added.
"For me it's trying to just keep the integrity of what the game was supposed to be. Obviously innovation happens, but I don't think people imagined golf the way pros play the game right now.
"I'd love to see just a little more versatility put back into the game, and I think that's what this change would ultimately do."
Shane Lowry was defeated 2&1 in his Group 12 match against Taylor Montgomery and the Offaly man will need to bounce back in his second round-robin match against Mackenzie Hughes on Thursday.
Seamus Power, in Group 13, also fell short against 2013 Masters champion Adam Scott, who finished one up on the Waterford native. He will take on Adam Hadwin on Thursday.
Elsewhere, world number two Jon Rahm and reigning US Open champion Matt Fitzpatick suffered surprise defeats.
Fitzpatrick is the top seed in Group 11 but had no answer to a brilliant burst of scoring from opponent JJ Spaun, who cruised to a 5&3 victory.
And Rahm squandered an early lead against Rickie Fowler to lose 2&1 .
The Spaniard, who has won three strokeplay events this season, won two of the first three holes against Fowler but three-putted three times in quick succession on the back nine en route to defeat.
Tyrrell Hatton also lost 3&1 to Ben Griffin and could be doubtful for the rest of the event after suffering pain in his right hand and arm following a shot on the range during his warm-up.
Keegan Bradley pulled off the comeback of the day as he recovered from four down with five to play to halve his match with Denny McCarthy in McIlroy's group.
World number one and defending champion Scottie Scheffler got off to a winning start, but made hard work of his victory over fellow American Davis Riley.
Scheffler, who was three up after five holes, contrived to lose the 14th hole to a bogey and missed from three feet to win on the 17th before holing from four times the distance on the last to get over the line.
The 64-man field is split into 16 groups of four, with only the group winners advancing to the knockout stages at the weekend.
