Los Angeles ? The shifting wind and gloomy rain gave the Nissan Open a distinctively British feel Thursday.

So did the leaderboard.

Two months after finally earning his PGA Tour card by winning Q-school, Brian Davis of England opened with an eagle and finished with eight straight pars on his way to a 6-under 65 for the early lead at dreary Riviera Country Club.

Luke Donald of England and Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland were among those one shot behind.

Donald was tied for the lead until landing in a divot just short of a fairway bunker, going into a greenside bunker and making bogey on his last hole. Clarke had one of many highlights at Riviera with his 7-iron that skirted the edge of the bunker in the middle of the par-3 sixth green, then rolled down the slope and into the cup for an ace.

Despite three-putting for bogey three times, Tiger Woods managed a 67 for his best start ever in his hometown tournament, which has given him fits like no other. The Nissan Open is the only PGA Tour event he has played at least four times without winning.

Woods needs to finish no worse than fourth to return to No. 1 in the world.

He wasn’t all that impressed with his start.

“I putted like a fool today,” Woods said. “It was an absolutely horrific day on the greens. I probably could have shot an 8 under par with not too much effort.”

The round was suspended by darkness with four players on the course.

The effort was figuring out the weather. The wind changed direction when the morning starters were about halfway through their rounds, then gave way to a cool, steady rain the rest of the afternoon.