Play in Round 1 was suspended at 6.07pm local time due to darkness, leaving Day as one of the players who will have to come back at 7.45am on Friday morning to complete their opening rounds.

Day’s last shot before play was halted was a 306-yard drive into the right rough at the par-4 11th having made a 15-foot birdie putt on the par-4 10th.

That elevated him to four-under on his round and in a tie for third, just one shot shy of Canadian pair Adam Hadwin (66) and Nick Taylor (66).

Boasting two top-10 finishes already this season and back inside the top 100 in the Official World Golf Ranking, Day continues to display the type of play that saw him rise to No.1 in the world.

Yet his record at TPC Scottsdale is far from accomplished.

His only top-20 finish (T20) came in his tournament debut and he has missed the cut in two of his three most recent starts.

A birdie from just inside five feet was the perfect starting point, the 35-year-old holing putts from seven feet and 12 feet for further birdies at three and six.

After going out in two-over Lucas Herbert recovered to post an even-par 71 in his opening round and sit tied for 38th.

Q School medalist Richard Green (72) is in a tie for ninth in his Champions Tour debut at the Trophy Hassan II in Morocco, Zach Murray and Todd Sinnott also inside the top 10 after Round 1 of the International Series Oman on the Asian Tour.

Murray and Sinnott both began the tournament with rounds of two-under 70, Sinnott’s round consisting of 16 pars and two birdies.

They sit four shots back of Canada’s Yonggu Shin with fellow Australians Travis Smyth (72), Terry Pilkadaris (73), Matt Jones (73) and Jack Thompson (73) inside the cut-line as Round 2 gets underway.

Dimi Papadatos has begun his second round of the DP World Tour’s Singapore Classic with a birdie to climb into a share of 29th at three-under as Rhein Gibson (68) and Brett Drewitt (69) both go sub-70 in Round 1 of the Astara Golf Championship on the Korn Ferry Tour.