KAPALUA, Hawaii, Jan 4 - American Will MacKenzie wishes his love for extreme adventure would translate a little more into his golf.

The 32-year-old from North Carolina, a professional kayaker who enjoys snowboarding, surfing and rock climbing, feels his game would benefit from a freer approach.

"I've been told that I do not play golf like I act off the golf course, but that might change," MacKenzie told reporters after moving into a share of the first-round lead at the season-opening Mercedes-Benz Championship on Thursday.

"I don't think that I'm that adventurous of a golfer. I think I get out there and try to do the right things a little too much.

"It has worked a little bit to get where I am but I wish I could free it up a little bit more out there and have some more fun."

MacKenzie, a promising junior player who gave up golf for almost a decade after his sophomore year in high school, believes his enthusiasm for the outdoors has helped him out on the course.

"My visualisation is good because I had to visualise how I was going to get down a river in a kayak or a tactical run in snowboarding," he said after shooting a four-under-par 69 in windy conditions at the Kapalua Resort.

"Like if I'm going to do something with a certain amount of turns that I have to make here and there and jump off something.

LITTLE ADVENTURE

"I think there's a little adventure in that. I play golf a little like that, but I need to work on that."

Lifted by an eagle at the par-five ninth, where he chipped in from 45 yards, MacKenzie joined compatriot Brett Wetterich, Vijay Singh of Fiji, South Korea's K.J. Choi and Canada's Stephen Ames at the top of the leaderboard.

It was the perfect start to the 2007 PGA Tour season for a player who only qualified for the world's most lucrative circuit two years ago.

"I hit the ball really well out there for the most part and I putted well," said MacKenzie, who qualified for the 34-strong field in Hawaii with his maiden PGA Tour victory at last year's Reno-Tahoe Open.

"I want to win the tournament, and the odds are a little better this week, even though everyone is very good at golf out here.

"It's really nice to have this tournament because you can start the year with some money in your pocket," added Mackenzie, who lived out of his van in Montana for five years while doing odd jobs, snowboarding, kayaking and rock climbing.

The winner of the Mercedes Benz-Championship will get $1.1 million with last place earning $50,000.