Padraig Harrington was not impressed with his all-round game despite leading the field by one stroke at the end of the first round of the Wachovia Championship in Charlotte.

"I didn't really hit the ball that well, or really have that much control, so it was definitely a round of good putting," Harrington said after using his short stick just 24 times, making four of the six putts he faced in the 10-to-20-foot range in ideal morning conditions at Quail Hollow.

The Dubliner posted a bogey-free six-under-par 66 to head Vijay Singh and Jason Bohn by one stroke, while Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson carded 70, Masters champion Zach Johnson 71.

World number 11 Harrington is coming off a three-week hiatus, the longest break he can remember as a professional during the heart of the season.

"You obviously need to take breaks but I just wasn't as sharp as maybe three weeks ago, before the break," he continued. "I'm definitely a better player when I'm playing than when I'm coming in cold."

It was not until Harrington described his birdies that he realised that perhaps he hit more good shots than he initially thought: "The first five birdies, they were all stone dead," he said. "I did hit a few shots close."

But the key to his round nonetheless was his putter, which he used to save par on several occasions after errant approach shots. In fact, his putter worked so well he joked that it should be banned.

"I ended up using a new putter shaft this week, something that's quite revolutionary, and it worked wonders," he said. "I think there will be a few more pros looking to get this shaft as well. It has two lead weights right at the top, just underneath the grip, and it changes the dynamics of the putter substantially. It's so good it should be banned!"

Harrington is making just his second appearance at Quail Hollow, playing partly to warm up for next week's prestigious Players Championship, but also because he loves the course.

"It's a US Open-standard course," he said. "I can see how it attracts the field it attracts. I've got to say there's not a huge difference (between this week and next week)."

Harrington's exploits were not matched by Darren Clarke who is facing an uphill struggle to avoid missing a fifth successive cut. Clarke, who has plummeted down the world rankings as he fights to find some form, failed to make an impact and a four over par round of 76 leaves him well off the pace.

Bohn played with Harrington and made the better start, three-under after five holes, although his highlight came later, at his 16th hole, the par-five seventh, where he drained a 20-footer.

"It was one of my best rounds of the year," said Bohn, although he has not had a top-10 in 11 starts. "I had my coach out this week, so we worked on a few things, on alignment issues. I kind of got hitting it where I was looking today, and that was a big bonus for me. I hit a lot of fairways, made some good putts and kept my ball out of trouble, and it yielded a good score."

Singh, who played in the tougher afternoon conditions, was bogey free: "I was really happy with my round," he said. "It was pretty tough at the end, with the wind swirling around. I was just playing each hole at a time and trying to do the best I can."

Woods did not do much wrong in his first round since he tied for second at the Masters more than three weeks ago: "I started out not that sharp, but I turned it around, played pretty good from number four on," he said after bogeying the tough par-four 18th, where he misjudged his approach shot in the fluctuating breeze.

"It got really difficult out there. These fairways, being this hard and fast and a little bit pitched and angled, it's really hard to hit some."

Meanwhile, Harrington revealed he had surgery three weeks ago for skin
cancer on his forehead.

"I had about a square inch of skin taken out with some roots and all that sort of stuff," said the Dubliner "It was only a sun spot. I'm told it's like the third form of skin cancer. It was not a melanoma or anything like that.

"You can see there's about a two-inch scar up there that's healing nicely. It was just continuing to grow. I'd keep catching it with my hat and if I rubbed it off with a sweater it would bleed and seep a bit. It was just something that needed to be dealt with."