Hank Lebioda’s timing couldn’t have been better — in regard to both what he shot Thursday in the opening round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and when he shot it.

Having missed the cut in all five starts this season and seven straight overall, and ranked 420th in the world, Lebioda carded an eight-under 63 at Monterey Peninsula’s Shore Course to stake himself to a one-stroke lead in Pebble Beach, Calif. The left-hander from Florida completed his round of nine birdies and one bogey just a few minutes before the weather changed on the Monterey Peninsula and gusting winds kicked up.

At one point, Chad Ramey, Harry Hall and Will Gordon also got as low as eight-under — Hall at Monterey Peninsula, and Ramey and Gordon at Pebble Beach Golf Links — but they struggled coming home in the stiffening breezes.

Ramey finished at seven-under 65 at Pebble, tied with Hall and Kurt Kitayama, each who took advantage of the calm conditions to shoot 64 at Monterey Peninsula, the shortest of the three courses used this week.

Lebioda said “pretty much everything” was working for him, but the key was that he hit 17 greens in regulation on the Shore Course and his putter got hot. Six one-putt greens starting at the ninth, five resulting in birdies, was a crucial stretch.

“For probably the last couple weeks or so, I felt like my putting had really turned a corner. Even though I may not have shown the results,” Lebioda, 29, said after just his second round in the 60s this season. “But I felt more confident standing over the ball. I liked what I was looking at visually standing over it. I knew it was just a matter of time. So today, fortunately, it was one of the days where quite a few of them did go in. Not every day is like that. I was glad I was able to take advantage of it today.”

Lebioda finished 153rd in the FedEx Cup standings last season on the PGA Tour, but he rose inside the top 150 due to players moving to LIV Golf, so he has conditional status. However, he needs a good week at Pebble Beach because his position in that category could drop with the priority reshuffle after the Genesis Invitational in two weeks. That could hurt his chances of gaining entry to upcoming events.

Despite the pressure, Lebioda said his game plan was to relax and get enough rest. Oh, and have fun, a thought he repeated twice for good measure. Of course, fun might be a little harder to come by on Friday, however, with rain and more wind in the forecast. “If it’s blowing as it is right now it will be definitely a tough challenge playing Pebble Beach,” he said. “But I’m going to rest tonight, get my body ready and try to go out and do more of the same.”