DEARBORN, Michigan -- After escaping from an uncomfortable spot, Hale Irwin is in a familiar one.

Seeking his seventh major title on the Senior PGA Tour, Irwin on Thursday carded a record 8-under-par 64 for a two-shot lead over Stewart Ginn of Australia after the first round of the Senior Players Championship.

Irwin birdied the first four holes and seven on the front nine at the TPC of Michigan en route to the best opening round in the 20-year history of the event, putting himself in position for his first win since March.

"It's been sort of a frustrating time," said Irwin, the winningest player in Senior Tour history with 34 titles. "I've been pushing a lot of buttons, trying to get it over the hump and just not doing so."

He pushed all the right buttons on a course he loves, even when he was forced to leave it. At the par-3 12th, he took his first bogey of the day, but it could have been worse if not for a gutsy decision.

Irwin hit his tee shot into the water, then took off his shoes and socks and rolled up his pant legs to approach the ball. Instead of retreating to the drop area, he intentionally made contact with the water and a rock before watching the ball escape trouble.

"It's funny," he said. "I haven't done that in a long time -- hit a ball out of water. But wouldn't you know, yesterday, I'm talking to the amateurs and they are saying, 'Did you ever hit a ball out of water?' Go figure."

Irwin chipped within two feet and tapped in for bogey. He had another along the way, but birdied three of the final five holes for another superb round at the TPC of Michigan, where he has been in the top four in five of the last six seasons.

"This may sound stupid," said Irwin, the 1999 champion. "I think it's kind of a tough course. I think because of that, I play it very carefully. I think it makes me more aware of being a little more focused."

He'll have to remain focused the rest of the week, although he has 23 more wins and five more major victories than the next 11 players on the leaderboard combined and has the largest first-round lead at this event since 1991.

Ginn had seven birdies and one bogey en route to his best round of the season. He has been in the top 10 just once this year and in 74 Senior Tour starts, never placing better than fifth in 10 major appearances.

"You know, you've got to go low," he said. "It's every tour now. Doesn't matter whether it's junior golf or the senior boys. It's proven every week. You have to get out there and go low."

Mark McCumber, a 10-time winner on the PGA Tour and rookie on the elder circuit who was an alternate until Jack Nicklaus withdrew late Wednesday afternoon, shot a 67 and is tied for third with Tom Jenkins, who won last week's event in Canada.

Mike McCullough, Wayne Levi and Howard Twitty are tied for fifth at 68. Of the three, McCullough has the only Senior Tour wins (2), but no majors.

Fuzzy Zoeller, Sammy Rachels, Bruce Summerhays, Ed Dougherty and Butch Sheehan share eighth place after carding 69s. The six have combined for eight Senior Tour wins, with Zoeller claiming the only major -- last month's Senior PGA Championship.

Irwin was second at the Senior PGA, sixth at The Tradition and 11th at the U.S. Senior Open, but he got off to a good start in the final major of the season -- one where he has the lowest scoring average in tournament history at 68.86.

A two-time runner-up at this event, Irwin opened with four consecutive birdies, never needing to putt from more than nine feet. He nearly holed his tee shot at the 210-yard fourth before tapping in.

"Now, it's sort of like, 'OK, pedal to the medal. Let's really golf well. How much better can you go?'" he said. "I was going at full speed and didn't even know it."

After a par at the fifth, Irwin birdied three of the next four holes, making a four-foot putt at the sixth and a 10-footer at the 10th around a tap-in at the seventh. He went out in 29, setting the tournament's nine-hole scoring record.

"Sometimes the hardest thing to do is take that momentum and all of that stuff and not have an end to it, but try to extend it," he said.

Irwin parred the 10th and 11th holes before his remarkable bogey save from the water at the 12th. He also parred No. 13 but birdied the next two holes, sinking putts of 10 and four feet.

The 10-footer was his longest putt of the day, thanks to an awesome iron game. After a bogey at the 16th and five-foot birdie putt at the 18th, he finished the day with just 22 putts.

"Well, it's hard to miss foot-and-a-half length putts," he said.