They weren't the only ones taking advantage of a rare windless day at the Turtle Bay Resort's Arnold Palmer-designed golf course on O'ahu's North Shore.

Forty-five of the 78 players in the field bettered par 72 in the first full-field event of the year on the Champions Tour, showing that these guys are indeed as good as advertised.

Five players were a stroke back of the leaders, including last week's MasterCard Championship winner Dana Quigley.

There was a 13-way logjam at 69 with Gary Player being the biggest surprise as the South African World Hall of Famer shot his age for the fourth time in his career, the last three in Hawai'i.

"People don't realize how capable these guys are. They still are playing quality golf," said Irwin, who added that the course was vulnerable because of a very light Kona wind. "It was almost breathless. In the four years here, I haven't seen it like this."

Breathless, too, was Irwin's start as he birdied the first four holes, missed a 10-foot birdie putt at five and birdied six to go 5-under-par before you could say four-time defending champion.

Gil Morgan chips onto the 18th green during the first round of the Turtle Bay Championship. Morgan shot a bogey-free 5-under-par 67 to share the lead with Hale Irwin, Keith Fergus and Allen Doyle. Ronen Zilberman • Associated Press

Sure, Irwin was happy with his round which saw a three-putt bogey at 15 and a birdie at the closing par-5 hole.

"I'm not disappointed with the 67. But I'm a little perplexed about what happened after the sixth hole," said Irwin, who is trying to win the same event for a record fifth year in a row.

The start, though, had filled him with "delusions of grandeur" as he was looking forward to maybe an 8- or 9-under round. Instead, he didn't have any birdie opportunities until the 18th hole.

So uneasy rests a bid for five titles in a row for Irwin, who won the event all three years at Turtle Bay (2001, 2002 and 2003) and in 2000 when it was known as the Ka'anapali Classic.

There are certainly enough challengers to put a stop to Irwin's reign. Seventeen players are within two shots of the leaders.

"It was wild and exciting," said Fergus, who after parring the fist two holes, went eagle, double bogey, birdie, birdie, bogey, birdie and bogey.

"Then I settled down and made par (at 10)," joked Fergus, who knew he was playing well despite the head-scratching scorecard on the first nine.

"It's the first tournament of the year. Don't blow a gasket," he told himself.

He didn't. He settled down to post four birdies on the back nine.

"Hey, it's golf. Sometimes it happens," Fergus said about his roller-coaster front nine.

Then, there's Quigley, who views every tournament as a happening.

Quigley is playing in his 264th consecutive tournament for which he is eligible, a streak dating back to 1997.

"I played great, really solid. I didn't make any bogeys but I left a few (birdie chances) out there," said Quigley, still euphoric about his victory at Hualalai Resort last week.

"The win definitely took the pressure off," he said. "It'll be a reasonably stress-free year for me. Like playing with house money."

Gary McCord, who's also at 68 with Quigley, Bob Gilder, Wayne Levi and Jim Thorpe, knows 2005 will also be a stress-free year for him even though he'll get to play in only around 10 to 12 events.

"I don't mind. I got a couple of jobs. At my age, I never thought I'd have two jobs," said McCord, who is a golf analyst with CBS-TV. "It's the easiest job in the world and they pay me a lot of money. I'm not going to quit that."

McCord played the par-5s in 5 under, holing out a sand wedge from 78 yards out to eagle the 574-yard ninth hole. But he bogeyed two par-3s, missing a two-foot putt at the fourth hole and a 1›-footer at 15. He figured it all equaled out with that eagle.

Thorpe and Dick Mast, who shot a 69, found themselves muttering coulda, woulda, shoulda.

Mast, a conditional qualifier on the Champions Tour who qualified on successive Mondays for the Sony Open in Hawai'i and the Buick Invitational, was six under par after 12 holes before bogeying 16 and making a triple-bogey 7 at 17.

"Indecision on the two tee shots," said Mast, who re-teed because of a lost ball on his drive at the signature 17th hole. He then sent his fourth shot over the green and couldn't get up and down.

Thorpe was 5-under going into the birdieable 18th but splashed his second shot in the water and took a bogey that cost him a share of the lead.

But it was just the first day, nothing to get excited about, according to Doyle.

"I get excited on Sunday," said Doyle, who saw his birdie attempt for the sole lead slide left short of the hole.

Playing the golf course he designed for the first time, Palmer drew a large gallery while playing with another golden oldie, Lee Trevino, and Bruce Lietzke.

Palmer shot an 82 but drew admiration from Trevino, who along with Lietzke also broke par with 71s.

"He's 75 but he can still pump it out there," Trevino said.

Dan Nishimoto's 75 led the four players with local ties in the $1.5 million event, which ends tomorrow.

Dave Eichelberger shot a 76 while Larry Stubblefield and Dick McClean, a former Kapalua pro, posted 80s.

NOTEBOOK: The par-4 10th hole played the most difficult yesterday with an average score of 4.256, while the par-5 third was the easiest with a 4.538 average score. . . Former PGA Tour players Brad Bryant (70), Don Reese (70) and Pat McGowan (72) made their Champions Tour debuts yesterday.