Viktor Hovland and Kris Ventura ended the opening round tied for the lead alongside Brice Garnett and Scott Stallings at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

The longstanding PGA Tour tournament turned into a team event in 2017, with the first and third rounds consisting of four-ball where everyone plays their own shot and the best score counts. The second and fourth rounds feature foursome play or alternate shot.

On Thursday, after the 2020 edition was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, Hovland-Ventura and Garnett-Stallings moved a stroke clear atop the leaderboard at TPC Louisiana.

Both teams carded bogey-free 10-under-par 62s, ahead of Cameron Champ-Tony Finau, Billy Horschel-Sam Burns, Keegan Bradley-Brendan Steele, Lee Kyoung-hoon-Kyle Stanley, Mark Hubbard-Sebastian Cappelen, Louis Oosthuizen-Charl Schwartzel and March Leishman-Cameron Smith.

Xander Schauffele, who threatened to break through for his maiden major title at the Masters, and Patrick Cantlay are eight under heading into the second round, along with Bubba Watson-Scottie Scheffler.

Defending champions Jon Rahm and Ryan Palmer opened their bid for back-to-back titles with a 65 to earn a share of 16th position, three strokes off the pace, while Justin Rose-Henrik Stenson are also seven under.