It’s been less than a month since David McKenzie joined the over 50’s but he’s already proving a force to be reckoned with, including sharing the first round lead in his first US Champions Tour start this week.

McKenzie finished T9 in his first event at the Senior Open Championship in Wales last month then showed he can still compete with the young guns finishing T2 at the Fiji International.

Then in his first tilt at qualifying in the US he scraped into the field at the Boeing Championship in a playoff before going on to make headlines on day one.

McKenzie eagled the par-5 8^th (his 17^th) at The Club at Snoqualmie Ridge in Washington on his way to a 7-under 65 and a share of the 18-hole lead with Jerry Kelly.

"I hit it really well, but hooked it and it landed just on the green and ran up," McKenzie said of his second shot that led to the eagle.

"I holed that coming down the hill. So that was making the most of a bit of luck."

McKenzie admitted to being a little unsettled on his debut on the big stage but said he settled into the rhythm soon enough.

"I was probably a little bit nervous teeing off, but overall I sort of struck the ball pretty well," McKenzie said after the opening round.

"First couple of holes was a little bit of a battle-fest, but sort of got into a bit of rhythm and made a few putts."

While he couldn’t maintain the momentum over the final two rounds and eventually finished T36, the quick start will give the Victorian plenty of confidence as he embarks on his senior career.

Craig Parry also teed up in the tournament and fired rounds of 74-72-75 to finish T65.