PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Davis Love III looked more like a player than a Ryder Cup captain yesterday at the Honda Classic.

Love made a hole-in-one on the 197-yard fifth hole and tied the course record at PGA National with a 6-under 64, giving him a two-shot lead. He took advantage of soft and relatively calm conditions in the morning.

Rory McIlroy was in the group at 66, needing a win this week to go to No. 1 in the world.

Tiger Woods needs a good round just to have a chance going into the weekend. Playing the Honda Classic for the first time as a pro, Woods twice lost momentum with sloppy bogeys and failed to convert a routine up-and-down on the par-5 18th for a 1-over 71. He was seven shots out of the lead, right on the cut line going into today.

But he played in tougher conditions, with stronger wind, in the afternoon and still hit the ball well, as he has been doing.

“I didn’t get a whole lot out of my round,” Woods said. “I hit the ball a lot better than I scored, and I certainly putted well, and I didn’t hardly get anything out of the round. Hopefully, tomorrow it will be better.”

Woods missed just three greens, but took 34 putts.

The 47-year-old Love has been around long enough to know that one round is nothing more than a good start, and he was happy to have that after a 5-iron to 18 feet for birdie on the 17th and a bunker shot to tap-in range for birdie on the 18th.

He hasn’t won since Disney at the end of 2008, and the last time he was atop the leaderboard after one round was at Bay Hill in 2010.

“If I had not birdied the last two holes, it still would have been a good start,” Love said. “It’s fun to tie the course record. And it’s fun to shoot low scores.”