Aussie Cameron Percy could proudly stand tall in posting an eight-under par 64 on the opening of the Safeway Open.

Percy, 46, didn’t drop a shot to end the first day in the opening event of the 2020/21 PGA Tour schedule being played in Napa, California.

If left Percy trailing just a shot behind Scotland’s Russell Knox heading into day two of the $6m event.

The effort was Percy’s lowest round since a similar 64 during the staging of the 2028 Barbasol Championship.

Though in speaking to the North Carolina-based Aussie it sounds he’s lucky to be even teeing-up at the start to a new season.

“I’ve been really hurt, I had ribs and back issue since we restarted,” Percy revealed.

“I shouldn’t have been playing and I did. I had three weeks off, I didn’t touch a club for the first two weeks and rehabbed it. I hit some shots in the rough today that normally I would be just hitting them 80 yards, I actually got them out 200 yards sort of thing.

“My body’s back to feeling half decent so I can actually hit the ball properly, so it made a huge difference.”

Percy had contested 11 events prior to the March 12th lockdown with a best finish of a T7th in last year’s Safeway Open but also missed the cut in four of five events between the end of last year and into his first event of 2020 proper.

However, since the lifting of the lockdown Percy played just six events but missed the cut in three and was forced to withdraw with injury from two other tournaments.

“I think just when we — when COVID hit, I didn’t take any time off. I played golf the whole time with my son because all we could do was play golf,” he said.

“Being home in North Carolina we were allowed to play golf. I have a 14-year-old son that all he wants to do is play golf, so I’m like, oh, this is great, I can get a rest, but I didn’t, I just played golf the whole way through. Come out here, played more golf and my body just said that’s not good.

“Now we’ve gotten off the golf course and sitting in a hotel room, you can’t go walk around and do anything, so it’s just sitting, sitting, sitting. My back got stiff sitting on planes. We think that’s what did it. And there’s no bag storage, so I had to carry my bag home each night and that sort of — I’m not used to doing that. Just things like that, just no movement, just sitting in your hotel room for 16 hours a day.

“So, I think that’s sort of what did it. I’m in the hotel room moving constantly now, not sitting down at all.”

Given the pain Percy has endured it’s comforting he still has the game to go low as he did on the parkland style course.

“I worked out for half an hour before my round trying to get my body going,” he said.

“I haven’t been able to do that for a long time. It’s been four weeks now of working out every day, just trying to get my body better so I can actually hit the damn ball, because apparently if your body’s not right, you can’t play very good golf out here.”