SOUTHAMPTON, Bermuda: US Open champion Justin Rose birdied the first hole with a blind shot he hit to a foot of the pin, and stayed ahead until completing a 4-under 67 for a two-shot lead over Jason Dufner in PGA Grand Slam of Golf on Tuesday.

The 36-hole exhibition, which concludes Wednesday, is for the four major champions of the year. British Open champion Phil Mickelson chose not to play and was replaced at Port Royal Golf Course by three-time major champion Padraig Harrington.

Dufner, who won the PGA Championship, opened with a 69. Masters champion Adam Scott struggled late in the wind for a 70. Harrington, who won the PGA Grand Slam last year as an alternate, shot 74.

Rose opened the round with a shot so far off line that he was in the rough near the second fairway. Facing a blind approach over trees and water, he cut a 6-iron to tap-in range for birdie.

“It should have been the shot of the day,” Rose said. “It followed the worst shot of the day.”

Rose made three more birdies on the front nine and was tied briefly by Dufner and Scott. But while Dufner and Scott struggled on the back nine as the wind picked up, Rose challenged the course record until bogeys on the 13th and 14th holes. Rose made an 8-foot par putt on the 15th, and he was the only player to make par on the 16th.

Harrington said he might skip a few tournaments toward the end of the year because of too much golf.

“Already in my head, (I have) pulled out of another two events during the winter to give me a long winter break,” Harrington said. “And it will be probably the longest winter break I’ve taken probably since I won my majors. I played stale golf, tired golf. There’s not a shadow of a doubt that I am completed over-golfed at this very moment.”

Wraparound season doesn’t keep stars from Sherwood

Even with the PGA Tour starting a new season in October, and big golf being played around the world, Tiger Woods said he was pleasantly surprised to draw another big cast of stars to his holiday tournament in California.

“It’s our deepest and strongest field that we’ve had, possibly ever,” Woods said Tuesday.

The World Challenge has not announced its two sponsor exemptions from among the top 50 in the world ranking to fill out the 18-man field. The tournament, which was in jeopardy this summer until Northwestern Mutual stepped in as a title sponsor, will be held Dec. 5-8 at Sherwood Country Club.

It includes defending champion Graeme McDowell, along with three other Europeans who will be competing in Asia for the Race to Dubai in the weeks leading up to Woods’ event. Rory McIlroy, Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter are expected to play.

Ernie Els is playing the World Challenge for the first time. Jason Day returns, though the Australian is making a rare trip Down Under this year to compete in World Cup at Royal Melbourne just two weeks before Woods’ tournament.

The other Americans besides Woods are PGA champion Jason Dufner, Matt Kuchar, Hunter Mahan, Brandt Snedeker, Zach Johnson, Bubba Watson, Jim Furyk, Keegan Bradley and Steve Stricker.

“I think we’re all very surprised that we’ve got as many international players playing this year,” Woods said during a conference call. “The American players have supported our event throughout the years. Obviously, it’s easier travel if you’re based in the States. The guys who are playing in the Race to Dubai, it’s a bit more of a challenge to get them to play. But for some reason, this year we’ve had guys wanting to play and we have probably the best field we’ve had.”

The tournament will be played for the 15th time, and it means so much to Woods that last year he invested his own money — believed to be about $4 million — to help cover operating expenses and to make sure there would be enough proceeds to benefit his foundation.

One challenge this year was the new wraparound season on the PGA Tour, starting in October and ending with the Tour Championship next September. There are six tournaments the rest of this fall — two in Asia — that offer full FedEx Cup points and official money.

Woods’ tournament is not official. It counts only toward the world ranking. And the total purse ($3.5 million) is smaller than any tournament on the PGA Tour or European Tour for the rest of 2013. That didn’t seem to matter.

“I think word has spread,” Woods said. “We’ve always treated players well there. They’ve had a great time. It’s close enough to the following year where some of the guys want to try and experiment with a few things equipmentwise, club deal. They want to get a tournament in before they play Kapalua, the Hawaiian Open. Some of the guys have done that in the past.