A chip-in on his final hole handed Brian Davis a one-shot lead after the opening round of the Valspar Championship in Florida . The Englishman recorded eight birdies and two bogeys in an opening 65 to sit six under , a shot clear of American pair Sean O'Hair and Ricky Barnes . Starting on the back nine , Davis birdied 11,12 , 14 , 15 and 18 to turn in 30 and two further birdies on five and six had him out in the lead on his own . Brian Davis leads the Valspar Championship in Florida after an opening round including eight birdies . Bogeys on the seventh and eighth followed to stall his momentum somewhat but a wedge from the greenside rough at nine saw him take top spot . ' I actually hit a really good tee shot and a really good second shot , I was surprised to see it there , ' he told Sky Sports 4 . 'Obviously it 's into the green so I can be aggressive but it actually jumps out a bit quicker than I thought and obviously ( I am ) delighted it hit the pin and dropped in . 'Delighted with the round , I hit some really good shots today . ' Davis has won 12.8million dollars in his PGA Tour career but has yet to win a tournament and hopes improved iron play may at last push him over the edge after hitting 15 greens in regulation on the Copperhead course . 'My stats probably show I 'm hitting eight to 10 greens a round , which is not going to get it done , ' he added . 'If you start hitting 14 greens the way I putt , you 're going to shoot under par and that 's what I did today . ' Davis hopes that his improved form will lead to a first tournament win of his PGA Tour career . O'Hair had eight birdies and three bogeys in his 66 while Barnes recorded a single dropped shot on 17 to slip into a share of second . There was then a group of six players on four under made up of Justin Thomas , Derek Ernst , Nicholas Thompson , Brendon de Jonge , Alex Cejka and Henrik Stenson . World number three Stenson is the highest ranked player in the field with Rory McIlroy and Bubba Watson not present and his 67 was bogey free . The Swede , starting on 10 , had chances for birdie on his opening five holes but could only take advantage on 11 , 13 and 14 before picking up a shot on nine . And Stenson hopes this week will provide him with some good practice for the Masters in four weeks ' time . Henrik Stenson , the top-ranked player in the tournament , is two shots back after a first round of 67 . ' I come in here trying to prepare for Augusta as well and this is a great test for that , ' he told www.pgatour.com . 'To just keep hitting your spots and stay patient and I did that all day and I got rewarded for it . ' I 'm going to try the same for the next three days and , of course , try and hit the shots . Even though my swing was n't on today I still picked my targets and tried the best I could . ' I hit some good shots , obviously , and the other ones I missed in the right places which is key here . ' Ian Poulter was in a large group of players at three under while Scottish pair Russell Knox and Martin Laird were a further shot back .
Englishman Brian Davis makes eight birdies in round of 65 . Davis makes a brilliant chip-in on his final hold to take lead after second round . Davis has never won a tournament in his PGA Tour career .