Tom Lehman began brilliantly with an eagle and five birdies on the first eight holes to shoot a 7-under 65 on Friday and take a one-shot lead after the first round of the Champions Tour’s Insperity Championship.

He was a stroke ahead of Fred Funk and Tom Jenkins tied for second, while past winners John Cook and Bernhard Langer topped a large group at 68.

Michael Allen, coming off consecutive victories at TPC Tampa Bay and the Legends of Golf better-ball event with David Frost, opened with a 69.

Australian Peter Senior was tied 49th after managing a one over 73.

Lehman, the player of the year last year after winning three times, shot his ninth straight sub-par round at The Woodlands Country Club, a venue that used to conjure nothing but bad memories.

He played in the 1985 Houston Open, the first year it was contested here, and missed the cut. In December 1989, Lehman finished “nearly dead-last” here in PGA Tour qualifying school on a cold, rainy weekend.

“It was a horrendous experience,” he said. “I played poorly and because it was such a big deal, I hated the golf course and I thought I’d never come back.”

But Lehman has top-10 finishes in each of his three Champions Tour starts at the course since 2009, and he was reminded again on Friday how well the course actually suits his game.

He hit approach shots close all day, and sank 6-foot birdie putts on 10 and 11 to get going. He holed a 12-footer on the 13th hole, reached the par-5 15th in two shots to set up the eagle and then tacked on two short birdie putts on the 16th and 17th.

“I think to myself, ‘Why did I not come back here? I love this course,”‘ Lehman said. “It’s just a testimony to how you can get something in your head, when things aren’t going well. It’s easy to say, ‘I don’t like the golf course.”‘