Golf:Padraig Harrington began his PGA Tour campaign for the year with an impressive performance on the opening day of the ATT Pebble Beach National Pro-am.

Despite a bogey on his third hole and another on his 17th, the Irishman last night carded a three-under-par first round on the same course that Graeme McDowell lifted the US Open last summer.

Steve Marino and DA Points share the lead after the first day‘s play. Two birdies on the last two holes helped Marino to a seven-under round of 65 at Spyglass Hill, with Points, who had actor Bill Murray as his partner, shooting a seven-under 63 at Monterey Peninsula.

Alex Cejka trails by a shot in second place, having started his round with an albatross on the 10th, the first time a player had started a round on the PGA Tour with an albatross since at least 1982.

Tom Gillis, Gary Woodland and Keegan Bradley are tied in fourth place on four under, with three-time major winning Padraig Harrington further back after shooting a three-under 69.

Hunter Mahan and Stuart Appleby are both handily place at two-under, but Phil Mickelson had a tough day, ending up one-over, eight shots off the lead, along with Dustin Johnson.

"It was the best start I've ever had," Cejka, who covered his first four holes in a sizzling five under, said after his round. "I hit a really good drive on 10, and I was between a five-wood and three-wood.

"I choked down a little bit on the three-wood and hit a really good shot down the left-hand side. It carried just short of the green, bounced up and took a break towards the hole.

"There were like three or four marshals up there and they started screaming, and suddenly it was in the hole. It's the first one (albatross) for me. I'm very happy."

Marino was delighted with his round, despite his failure to birdie any of the four par-five holes. "I played great and made a few putts," he said after a flawless display highlighted by seven birdies in near-perfect scoring conditions. "I'm real thrilled about it.

"I got off to a real good start. I was hitting fairways and lots of greens and gave myself a lot of looks on the first nine holes.

And then I kind of hit a rough patch for a little bit in the middle of the round, but I saved (bogey with) some nice pars and finished great."

For Points, the highlight of his day was playing alongside Murray.

"I've wanted to play with him for a few years now," Points said after carding eight birdies and one bogey. "Bill is from Illinois and I'm from Illinois as well, so we have that in common.

"I know people talk about his antics and call him a showman while he's out there, making lots of comments and talking while people are getting ready to hit shots. It really loosens me up and makes me, between shots, not grind so hard on what I'm doing. It helps me take a little bit of a breather between shots and joke around with him."