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Hubbard mixed six birdies with two bogeys, despite gusting
winds on the Trump International course in Rio Grande, to end
the day one ahead of fellow Americans Billy Mayfair and Chris
Smith, and Argentina's Emiliano Grillo.
Former world number one David Duval of the United States and
Germany's Alex Cejka were among a group of 11 players who carded
70s in the first round.
Hubbard was one under for the day after 12 holes but soared to
the top of the leaderboard as he finished
birdie-birdie-birdie-par-bogey-birdie.
"I drove it pretty well, kept it in the fairway and made a lot
of solid five and six-footers," Hubbard told reporters. "It
played tough out there with the wind."
Hubbard, who made the cut in his last eight starts on the
lower-tier Web.com Tour in 2013-14 to earn his PGA Tour card for
this season, has been on an unusual roller-coaster ride over the
past three weeks.
He proposed to his girlfriend on the 18th green after the
opening round of last month's AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am,
and was disqualified from last week's Honda Classic after
failing to register as the tournament's first alternate.
"I've been getting a lot of press," said Hubbard.
American Chesson Hadley, who won last year's Puerto Rico Open as
a PGA Tour rookie by two shots after surviving a late charge in
the final round by New Zealand's Danny Lee, launched his title
defence with a 71. (Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes in Los
Angeles; Editing by Frank Pingue)
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