KAPALUA, Hawaii, Jan 4: Canadian Mike Weir carded a course-tying 63 here Thursday to grab the first round lead of the prestigious Mercedes Championships — and that was despite some spotty putting.

“If everything went absolutely perfect, it could have been ridiculous, really,” the left-hander Canadian said after going 10-under-par and bogey free on the Plantation Course at Kapalua Resort and forging a three-stroke lead over Frank Lickliter in the season-opening US PGA Tour event reserved exclusively for tournament winners from the previous year.

“I don’t want to sound like I’m whining,” added Weir, who won the season-ending Tour Championship in a playoff to qualify for this event. “It was one of those days where my irons were dialed in and felt comfortable.”

Amid gentle breezes and soft conditions conducive to scoring, Weir, ranked 12th in the world, tied the tournament record set by David Duval during his run to the ‘99 title.

Weir, 31, birdied the first four holes — with the longest putt six feet — on the way to a front-nine record 29. He equaled his career low round in relation to par, having shot a 10-under 62 at Doral last year.

Lickliter parred the first four holes before an eagle at the fifth ignited his round of 66. He was one stroke ahead of four players, including Duval and defending champion Jim Furyk, while Tiger Woods, the 2000 winner, was another shot back at 68.

All but six of the 32 players in the field shot par or better.

But no one could keep pace with Weir, who put a new set of Taylor Made irons in his bag yesterday and bludgeoned the 7,263-yard Plantation Course with them.

“About the first seven birdies he had I don’t think he had to putt,” said playing partner Cameron Beckman, who joined Duval, Furyk, Scott Verplank and Chris DiMarco at six-under 67.

“I don’t how many times he asked me, can I finish?’ when I was getting ready to putt. It was fun to watch.”

The longest of the 10 birdie putts that Weir converted was eight feet and three were one foot or less. But he missed five in the eight- to nine-foot range. His opening birdie run ended with a three-putt from 50 feet at the par-five fifth hole, and he two-putted from 15 feet for eagle at the ninth. A chip for birdie at the 13th ended up two inches short.

He couldn’t deny that 59 crossed his mind.

“Absolutely. I’m not going to say I didn’t,” he said. “I was feeling so good.”

And he did it with a set of irons he had put in his bag only the day prior.

“Any time you switch from equipment you’ve had success with to new irons, there’s a little apprehension,” Weir said. “Kind of cemented in my mind today that I did the right thing. I never hit that many shots to the hole. That was a good feeling to do that.”

Leading first round scores:

63 Mike Weir (Canada) 66 Frank Lickliter 67 Cameron Beckham, Chris Di Marco, Scott Verplank, David Duval, Jim Furyk. 68 Kenny Perry, Tiger Woods. 69 Joel Edwards, Retief Goosen (South Africa), Robert Damron, David Toms, Davis Love III. 70 Justin Leonard, Tom Pernice Jr, Bob Estes. 71 Scott McCarron, Brad Faxon, Steve Stricker. 72 John Cook, Shigeyuki Maruyama (Japan), Scott Hoch, Mark Calcavecchia.—Reuters