Trailing them was late replacement Chez Reavie (68) and then was Albany resident Justin Rose among four players at 69.

As for the host, Tiger Woods it was a roller coaster as he followed up a two-over front nine with a two-under back nine. The back nine included a stretch between 11thand 15ththat was played in five-under, with an eagle on 15th. Then he bogeyed the 17thand doubled the 18thto hand in a scorecard of even par.

But the first day’s proceedings must have pleased Woods as two of Captain’s picks, the US Open champion Woodland and former Masters winner, Reed, were atop the leaderboard.

Reed held the first round lead for the second year running, while Woodland had the highest number of birdies at eight in his 66. Reed has three top-fives in five previous starts at the event.

Defending champion Jon Rahm (70) recorded his fifth straight under-par score at Albany and he was eighth in a tournament where fortunes change quickly.

With a strong wind from the opposite side, the Albany course, usually great for scoring with five par-5s, yielded only 10 under par scores from the 18-man field. Even a solid hitter like Woodland needed some low irons where he would otherwise short irons.

There was a lot of scope for improvement in Woods’ own game, as against how he played while winning the Zozo Championship in Japan in October. Woods bogeyed both par 5s on the front nine, but seemed to have found something in the five-hole stretch he played in 5-under-par while chipping in for eagle on the par-5 15th. It brought him to three-under and three off the lead till the bogey-double bogey finish for a 72.

"It was not a very good start," Woods said. "Didn't play the par 5s well early and then got it going on the back nine a little bit. Got myself right there in the mix and then bad shots on 17, 18."

Reavie’s 68 included a double-bogey 7 at ninth as he made good use of a last-minute invite after the withdrawal of Johnson.

"Sometimes it's better to miss the green than be in the middle of the green putting downwind," Woodland said. "We tried to play into the wind all day today, and we did that. We controlled the golf ball enough where we did that and gave ourselves a lot of chances."

Reed ran off four straight birdies through the 16th.

Among some of the other finishes Cantlay stood out with a bogey on the par-3 17th and a quadruple bogey on 18thas he tumbled from three-under to finish at two-over 74.

Woods has 11 of his 12 players for the Presidents Cup at the event, and it was clear what kind of pairings he had in mind for the matches that start Dec. 12 at Royal Melbourne.

He played with Justin Thomas, who had a 69. Reed played with Patrick Cantlay, his partner at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans each of the last three years. Woodland played with

Xander Schauffele, while Bryson DeChambeau was paired with Webb Simpson and Rickie Fowler played with Tony Finau.

Matt Kuchar had a successful partnership with Dustin Johnson in two Ryder Cups. Johnson is not in the Bahamas, withdrawing last week to give his left knee one more week to get ready for the matches. Kuchar instead played with Chez Reavie, who replaced Johnson in the Bahamas.