Steele and Baird share early lead

Steele shot five birdies on the back nine after bogeying the sixth while Baird scored four birdies and holed an excellent 20-foot par putt on the 18th hole to remain tied for the lead.

The American duo held a slender one-stroke advantage over Troy Matteson and Matt Jones, who both finished with three-under-par rounds of 68.

Garrett Willis was also three under after six holes out on the course.

Tiger Woods started the day inconsistently as he bogeyed the second and third holes after firing a birdie on the first.

However, Woods, who was playing in his first competitive round in the PGA Tour in nearly two months, found par on the next three holes to remain one over. The 35-year-old is looking to relaunch his career after falling to a ranking of No 51 in the world – the first time be has been out of the top 50 since October 1996.

South Africa’s Ernie Els finished two under par after making three birdies and a bogey in his round of 69.

He was tied for sixth with Australia’s Greg Chalmers and Americans Kevin Na, Scott Piercy, Jeff Maggert, Brandt Jobe, Chad Campbell and Roland Thatcher.

Further back, Englishman Paul Casey was on two under par after six holes following birdies on the first, second and sixth with a bogey on the par-5 fourth.