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Darren Clarke carded a one under par first round 69 at the McGladrey Classic in Georgia on Thursday, to remain six strokes off the leaders Briny Baird and Brian.
The duo both fired opening-round 63's to sit seven under after fog had delayed play by almost two hours in the morning.
Former US Open champion Webb Simpson was one of three players two shots back alongside fellow American Kevin Kisner and South Korean Seung-yul Noh.
Baird has not recorded a win in his previous 364 appearances on Tour but could break that duck this week after a stunning start at Sea Island.
The 41-year-old recorded a flawless round as he birdied the second, third and fourth holes before hitting another hot streak at the end of his day with further birdies at 14, 15, 16 and 17.
Gay did have a blemish on his card as he dropped a shot on the 12th but he countered that with eight birdies in calm conditions.
Simpson, Noh and Kisner were two behind after firing rounds of 65 and there was a large group behind them on four under including Jonathan Byrd andCamilo Villegas.
Will MacKenzie was the best of the afternoon starters as he sat four under after six holes with former Masters champion Trevor Immelman a further shot back through eight.
Major champions YE Yang, Retief Goosen and Ben Curtis were all on two under having completed their rounds while defending champion Tommy Gainey was level par through four holes.
