Veteran Victorian Cameron Percy has scorched his way to an opening 63 to put himself in contention at the PGA Tour's Safeway Open in Napa, California.

The 46-year-old Percy, who is based in North Carolina and has spent most of the past 10 years playing on the main and secondary tours, rolled in eight birdies in his opening round, and dominated the par-fives with four birdies.

He is tied-second just a shot from the lead held by Russell Knox of Scotland, who opened with a 62 at Silverado Resort in the first event of the 2020-21 season.

Percy’s performance may come as a surprise since he has been troubled by a rib injury in recent times. He withdrew from the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro after 28 holes at his most recent start, but his form overall had been decent prior to that, just missing out on the playoffs.

Melburnian Percy is a five-time winner around the world but the closest he has been to a PGA Tour win is a famous playoff at the Shriners Hospital tournament in Nevada.

Safeway Open leaderboard

Meanwhile, Aussies Jamie Arnold and Ryan Ruffels are well placed after round one of the Korn Ferry Tour's event in in Illinois.

Chasing American Trey Mullinax at six under, Arnold and Ruffels are both two under, while compatriots Harrison Endycott (-1) and Brett Coletta (E) are also handy.

Australia's two recent KFT winners, Curtis Luck and Brett Drewitt, both battled to three over finishes.

Evans Scholars Invitational leaderboard