Matt Jones tied the course record as the Australian sizzled to earn a three-stroke lead after the first round of The Honda Classic.

Jones was flawless on day one, carding a nine-under-par 61 at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida on Thursday.

The 40-year-old, whose sole win on the PGA Tour came via the 2014 Houston Open, did not drop a shot as he birdied nine holes, including three in a row to close out the round.

Jones equalled the course record, while posting the lowest round of his professional career to top the leaderboard ahead of American pair Aaron Wise and 2014 champion Russell Henley.

Since 2007, there have been 6,202 rounds played at PGA National – Jones (10.49 in this year's first round) and Tiger Woods (10.12 in 2012 final round) are the only players to gain over 10 total strokes in a round.

"I play golf for a living," Jones said in response to his round. "I mean, I should be able to shoot a good golf score occasionally. It doesn't happen as much as I want.

"But yes, I'm very happy with it. I was very calm, I was very relaxed out there. I'm normally a bit more amped-up and hyped-up and I had a different goal this week, to be a little more calm than normally and walk slower."

Steve Stricker, Cameron Davis, Kevin Chappell, Scott Harrington and Joseph Bramlett are five shots off the pace heading into Friday's second round.

Defending champion Im Sung-jae opened his bid for back-to-back titles with a first-round 68, while former world number one and 2016 winner Adam Scott is a shot further back.

Following runner-up finishes in his last two starts on the PGA Tour – Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Players Championship – Lee Westwood opened his Honda Classic campaign with a 70.

Rickie Fowler, who won the tournament in 2017, is also even par alongside Westwood, while five-time major champion Phil Mickelson is a stroke worse off.