This tournament needed Adam Scott in contention on Sunday and, ideally, he would fly out early to ensure the key storylines attached to him - and the galleries - follow him through all four days.
And like so many times before at the Australian Masters, Scott delivered on the opening day - guaranteeing that "Adam watch" will dominate the landscape at Huntingdale Golf Club this week.
Not that he needed it, but the circumstances assisted the former world No.1, and he didn't miss out. 
Scott completed a dream start on Thursday, shooting a seven-under round of 64 to establish a one-shot lead over West Australian Daniel Fox and another shot or two on a bigger chasing pack at four or three under.
In a reversal of fortunes from last year's Masters - when Scott was on the wrong side of the draw - the 35-year-old was able to play in perfect weather in the morning groups, while top-flight challengers such as Steve Bowditch (six over) and Nicolas Colsaerts (four over) battled in the afternoon wind.
The closest higher-profile challenger is US Tour veteran John Senden, who negotiated the tricky wind to record a two-under 69 and keep himself in contention.
Scott said he felt the course was "there for the taking" and he certainly obliged, riding some luck early before finding his mojo in the back nine.
Playing the back nine first, the Queenslander got out of jail on his first hole (the 10th), made birdie on his fourth (the 13th), landed a big putt on his seventh for another (the 16th), and then dazzled turning for home.
During a display he described as "pretty stress-free golf", it seemed like Scott either made a birdie putt - as he did five times - or had a simple tap-in par on his back nine, as all parts of his game came together.
It was bogey-free and beautiful to watch, ensuring that the galleries who rose at 7am to watch him had their money's worth.
"It was a dream start, and hopefully something to build on to get myself in position late on Sunday," Scott said.
"I don't think I challenged the course very much," he said.
"We had really nice conditions to play this morning. There was no wind, so weighing everything up, there was no need to challenge it.
"You were going to hit a lot of fairways with irons and then have straightforward iron shots into greens, and the greens were still soft."
Scott is aiming to become just the third player to win three gold jackets, but also to claim his first victory of 2015 - thus keeping alive a streak of 14 years as a professional with at least one win every year.
His iron play was dialled in - he hit 16 out of 18 greens, and 10 of 14 fairways - which meant he barely had to scramble.


LEADERBOARD
-7 Adam Scott (Aus) 64
-6 Daniel Fox (Aus) 65
-4 Mathew Goggin (Aus), Peter Wilson (Aus), Matt Stieger (Aus) 67
-3 Andrew Evans (Aus), Alistair Presnell (Aus) 68
-2 Bryson DeChambeau (US), Zach Murray (Aus), Nick Gillespie (NZ) 69
-1 Nick O'Hern (Aus), Kieran Muir (NZ), Peter Senior (Aus), Christopher Thorn (Aus), Cheng Tsung Pan (Twi), Stephen Allan (Aus), Gareth Paddison (NZ), Adam Stephens (Aus) 70
Par Rory Bourke (Aus), Kieran Pratt (Aus), Nathan Holman (Aus), Cameron Smith (Aus), Damien Jordan (Aus), Ben Eccles (Aus), Jamie Hook (Aus) 71