SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Matt Kuchar hardly looked like a guy coming off a seven-week break Thursday in the first round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open.

Kuchar eagled the par-5 13th and added two late birdies and a big par save on the rowdy par-3 16th hole in an opening 7-under 64 at TPC Scottsdale.

“It was so nice to be home,” Kuchar said. “Our kids got to play basketball. This is basketball season back home. I have always been traveling out west, so it was fun for me to be home, be dad, go to basketball games and practices..”

Playing in perfect afternoon conditions in front of a crowd estimated at 103,420, Kuchar took a one-stroke lead over defending champion Hideki Matsuyama and Brendan Steele.

“Someone told me it was 5 million,” Kuchar joked about the crowd. “So many people out here. It’s a good buzz. It’s a good vibe.”

He made a 25-foot eagle putt on 13.

“Chased a 3-wood up on the corner of the green, and it was a pretty straightforward 25-footer,” Kuchar said. “That was a lucky place to be on that hole. Some of these pins were hard to get at. That was one that was hard to get at.”

The seven-time PGA Tour winner ran in a 6-footer for birdie on the par-5 15th. He got up-and-down for par from the left bunker on the triple-deck stadium 16th, making a 12-foot putt, and chipped to inches from the front fringe on the short par-4 17th to set up his final birdie in the bogey-free round.