PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – Twenty months later, Dustin Johnson finally hit the drive he wanted at Pebble Beach. Ten years later, Tiger Woods must have wondered what kept him away from the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

On a spectacular day of scenery and scoring, Johnson blasted a tee shot on the third hole at Pebble Beach and then pitched in for eagle from 41 yards in front of the green. He added another eagle on his way to a 9-under 63 and a three-way tie atop the leader board Thursday.

Woods was five shots out of the lead, a solid start to his PGA Tour season. He had six birdies in a 4-under 68 at Spyglass Hill, the fourth-best score on that course. Spyglass was hardest of the three courses, though not by much. The weather was so pure that all three courses played about one shot under par.

Charlie Wi was over at Monterey Peninsula and had a shot at 59 without ever knowing it. Wi was 8 under after a tap-in birdie on the 13th hole, and needed only three birdies in the last five holes. Trouble is, he had no idea the Shore Course was a 70. He made one more birdie and had a 9-under 61.

“I was looking at the scorecard like, ‘What’s the par here?’ I did not know it was a par 70,” Wi said. “That 59 never crossed my mind. Not once.”

Woods opened with consecutive birdies, stuffing his approach on No. 10 and two-putting for birdie on the par-5 11th. He also holed a downhill, 8-foot birdie putt on the 17th that was good enough to elicit a small fist pump, and from behind the par-5 opening hole, hit a flop shot to 7 feet and made that.

One of his two bogeys was sloppy. It came on the short par-4 fourth, with a shallow green set among sand dunes and ice plant at a diagonal angle. Instead of going toward the middle of the green and letting the slope take the ball to the hole, Woods went at the flag. The ball bounced hard over the green and into a sandy patch of dunes, in a foot print.

He did well to blast a wedge some 30 feet past the hole and had a good two-putt from there for bogey. Woods picked up another birdie on the par-5 seventh for his 68. He played the par 5s in 3 under.

“I don’t know if it’s a good sign or a bad sign,” Woods said about his 68. “With the scores the way they are, I thought I could have it lower than I did. The guys are just tearing this place apart with no wind. I’m not too far away from posting a good number out here.”

Phil Mickelson always entertains at No. 4 at Spyglass, a tee shot that gives him so much stress each year. He is determined to hit driver, and did again Thursday, this time relieved to at least be able to find it. And while he missed a 7-foot birdie putt after a splendid flop out of deep rough that ran 100 feet across the green, Mickelson was glad the hole was behind him.

As for his 2-under 70?

“The greens were perfect,” Mickelson said. “They rolled so good, and that’s why it was disappointing to let some of those go. I’ve been putting really well lately, and I expected to make some of those. Shot a couple under par, but it could have been a lot better.”

EUROPEAN: In Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Rafael Cabrera-Bello made nine birdies in his first 11 holes to finish at 9-under 63 for a two-shot lead after the first round of the Dubai Desert Classic.

Marcel Siem and Scott Jamieson each shot 65. U.S. Open champion Rory McIlroy was three shots back, making seven birdies on the last 10 holes. He’s tied for fourth with six other players, including 2010 PGA champion Martin Kaymer.

WOMEN’S AUSTRALIAN OPEN: In Melbourne, American Stacy Lewis and Australia’s Sarah Kemp shared the lead at 4-under 69, leaving top-ranked Yani Tseng a stroke back in her bid to win the event for the third straight year.

Former Fort Wayne resident Amanda Blumenherst was five shots back after shooting a 1-over par 74 in the opening round.

Brittany Lincicome and Julieta Granada matched Tseng with at 70 in the event also sanctioned by Australian Ladies Professional Golf and the Ladies European Tour.