Green is in the top three after the first round for the third time in as many senior majors after shooting a three-under 67 to be one off the pace at the Kaulig Companies Championship in Akron, Ohio on Thursday.
Yet to win on the PGA Tour Champions, the 53-year-old Victorian left-hander has been threatening a big-time breakthrough in the over-50 ranks for weeks.
He tied for third at last month's US Senior Open after sharing the first-round lead and he finished second at the Senior PGA Championship a month earlier after also being tied first following day one.
Defending champion Steve Stricker and Duffy Walfdorf lead the Kaulig Companies Championship after posting rounds of 66 at Firestone Country Club, with Green tied third along with Kenny Perry.
Close behind at two-under 68 are New Zealand's Steven Alker, Angel Cabrera of Argentina, Steve Flesch, Tim O'Neal and Paul Stankowski.
A three-time winner on the regular European tour, Green has yet to miss a cut in 14 PGA Tour Champions starts this season.
"It's probably one of the tougher courses that we play on tour and it's really, really rewarding to have shot a good score," said Green. "I'm still playing pretty well, so very happy."Same old stuff, just trying to hit good golf shots. Golf's an ongoing test and got to ride the ups and downs a little bit sometimes."It's been up for a bit for me, so I'm just going to just go with it as long as I can and keep working."
Australians Mark Hensby and Cameron Percy shot 69s, while Michael Wright shot 70. Steve Allan, Rod Pampling and Stuart Appleby all had 72s, Greg Chalmers a 73 and John Senden 75.
Stricker, 57, has yet to win on the PGA Tour Champions this year but has 17 titles to his name, including seven majors.
He also won the Senior Players in 2021 and was runner-up in 2022 before capturing his second title at Firestone in 2023.
Waldorf, 61, is in the hunt for his first senior major title and his first win of any kind on the PGA Tour Champions since 2016.
with AAP
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