AVONDALE, La. - Chris DiMarco bristled at the suggestion that he might be little rusty after taking a two-week break from the PGA Tour following his draining playoff loss to Tiger Woods in the Masters.

"No, because when I went home for two weeks, I played a lot of golf," DiMarco said.

He certainly looked sharp Thursday, shooting a season-best 7-under 65 for a share of the first-round lead in the Zurich Classic.

"I felt I was playing good," DiMarco said. "My confidence was very high going in."

India's Arjun Atwal also opened with a 65, including birdies on six of his final nine holes on the wind-swept TPC of Louisiana, the Pete Dye-designed course in its first year as the tournament site after a 16-year run at English Turn.

"The wind was tough," DiMarco said. "It was coming from all directions. There were some very, very tough shots out there.

"As long as I'm hitting the ball as solid as I'm hitting it, it really doesn't matter if you play in the wind or not. My irons are very crisp and when you hit crisp iron shots the wind doesn't affect them as much."

DiMarco, who started play on No. 10, had three birdies on the first nine holes. He got to 4 under with a birdie on No. 1, made five straight pars, and holed a 20-foot eagle putt on the par-5 seventh. He closed the bogey-free round with a birdie on No. 9.

Atwal, a playoff loser in the BellSouth Classic, was a late addition to the field.

"I was playing the Monday qualifier at that Bridge's casino for this course, and they came and told me on the 17th hole that I got a sponsor's invite, which was awesome," Atwal said.

He's concentrating on his putting.

"I was putting pretty well," Atwal said. "And got it going a little bit toward the backside of the back nine. Then on the front, I hit it pretty good and made most of the putts."

Defending champion Vijay Singh was in a group at 67.

Opening on the back nine, Singh had two bogeys and three birdies to make the turn at 1 under. He bogeyed No. 1, then had birdies on Nos. 2, 6 and 7.

Singh made an eagle on the par-4 eighth, hitting a 339-yard drive and holing a 30-yard chip to reach 6 under. He three-putted No. 9, however, for a final bogey.

"I played decent, I didn't play great," Singh said.

He three-putted four greens, and the wind bothered him on some holes.

"Once the wind starts blowing like this you've got to almost cut yourself off the corners and take a safe play," Singh said. "Then you leave yourself a long putt."

J.J. Henry, Tom Pernice Jr. and Tim Clark also shot 67s.

With the move to the year-old TPC of Louisiana, players such as Henry, who did not play in the pro-am, had just one round of practice before the start of play Thursday.

"I looked at it as, 'Hey, everybody is kind of in the same boat,'" Henry said. "It's a golf course that's not one that you're going to be where you can't sleep the night before. There's no hole that jumps out, where you're really sweating it out."