KAILUA-KONA, Hawaii >> The weather pattern that has been over the Hawaiian Islands’ chain for most of January is just what the golfer ordered.

Little wind and even less rain led to low scores two weeks ago on Maui at the SBS Tournament of Champions, last week on Oahu at the Sony Open in Hawaii and now this week on the Big Island at the $1.8 million Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai.

Not that any of the 47 seniors taking part in the first event of the PGA Tour Champions season are complaining. Far from it. But if you plan on hoisting the trophy on Saturday you better think low and then shoot even lower than that to have any chance of being in the winner’s circle.

Defending champion Duffy Waldorf, Marco Dawson and reigning Champions Tour player of the year Bernhard Langer got through the opening 18 better than everyone else in this elite winners field at 8-under 64. But if they look over their shoulders they will see a contingent of old guys right on their bags.

Fred Couples, John Daly, Olin Browne and Gene Sauers are one shot back at 7-under 65. Lee Jansen, David Frost and Doug Garwood are also in the mix at 6-under 66. Only four didn’t finish in the red, with nine golfers within three shots of the lead.

The scoring average was a blistering 69.298 and it included Ben Crenshaw’s 14-over 86 and Roger Chapman’s 6-over 78. Langer was in the last pairing to sign their scorecards and said a light breeze of about 10 mph kicked up later in the day, but it didn’t affect his score. He just missed a birdie putt at 18 that would have put him alone in first.

His 20-foot birdie putt at the par-3 17th drew him even with Dawson and Waldorf. Dawson was among the early finishers, with Waldorf matching his score with birdies at the final two holes. Langer opened with four birdies over the first five holes. He birdied four of the first five on the back nine as well, with a lone bogey at No. 11.

As well as Langer has played in recent years, he has won this event only twice, in 2009 and 2014. Last year, he had four victories on tour with four runner-up finishes en route to earning a shade more than $3 million.

“It is,” Langer said when asked if it was a great way to start the season, “64s are always good. Take those anywhere. But no, played nice. I got off to a hot start, birdied the first two. Had an eagle putt on four I think it was and didn’t make it, but played solid.”

Dawson didn’t have an eagle or a bogey on his card, but did manage eight birdies for a garden-variety 64. Langer said he had a bit of an offseason, not touching the clubs for three weeks at one point. Dawson took a two-month break that seemed to be just what he needed based on how he played Thursday.

“It was pretty easy,” Dawson said of his 64. “It was beautiful, nice to play good again. If you walked around with me, you’d have thought, yeah, it’s pretty easy. I just took advantage of the par-5s, got up and down. I didn’t play much in the offseason, but what I did do is I went through my routine during my swing and shot, and I focused on that.”

Waldorf won here in 2016 and never visited the winner’s circle again. But there’s something about this course that he likes. He is comfortable here and that was critical for him, considering his slow start on the front side.

“I was struggling a little bit out there,” Waldorf said. “Especially with my driving on the front side. I just got my putter going. I made a bunch of great putts on the back side. I knocked in six birdies on the back side.”

Birdies were the order of the day. There were 200 of them among the 47 golfers to fit nicely with 11 eagles. By contrast, there were only 74 bogeys as the seniors took advantage of ideal conditions.

Rookie David Toms didn’t appear prepared for this birdie barrage but still carded a respectable 3-under 69 to sit in a tie for 20th. He’ll have to go way low to be in contention on Saturday. No one approached the course record of 61 set by Loren Roberts back in 2006. The weather is supposed to hold up for today’s round, but Saturday could bring some strong winds based on a front moving through.

“It was a factor today,” Langer said. “But it wasn’t like it could be. The course is in great shape.”