Toms and Villegas on top in California

Ted Potter Jr., Sang-moon Bae, Brandt Snedeker and Bob Estes were one stroke behind in postcard-perfect weather on the pro-am tournament’s three generous Palm Springs-area courses. Villegas and Toms both played bogey-free at the erstwhile Bob Hope Classic, which has dropped one day of its traditional five-round format this year.

After playing on the winning US team in the Presidents Cup, Toms passed on a hard-to-get spot in the lucrative Chevron World Challenge in December to spend extra time with his family. He shook off an unimpressive start to the new season in Hawaii with excellent play alongside Presidents Cup team-mate Phil Mickelson at La Quinta Country Club, which features the tournament’s toughest course.

Toms also got a boost playing alongside Mickelson, who struggled to a 74. Toms made a 30-foot birdie putt on the sixth hole right after Mickelson holed an eagle putt, ratcheting up the energy in an often staid tournament.

“That’s probably the biggest crowd I’ve ever had playing golf here,” Toms said. “It was nice to play a good round and have people energised and out there cheering for your birdies.” Villegas recovered from his disappointing 2011 with an extended break in his native Colombia and Florida. In his tournament debut, he made nine birdies in his first crack at the Nicklaus Private course, coasting through a round he could barely recall after he finished it.

“You feel that you’re a little rusty, but at the same time, you’re mentally fresh,” said Villegas, a three-time US PGA Tour winner. “It’s a funny game. Sometimes being mentally fresh is more important.”

Greg Norman shot a 72 in what was his first Palm Springs appearance since 1986.

“Nothing really worked,” Norman said after his first US PGA Tour start since 2009. “It was just pure rust, that’s all it was. Just rusty, rusty, rusty.”