PGA Championship 2012 Standings: Day 1 Highlights, Cut Line Projections and More

The PGA Championship's first round is in the bag, and the tournament's top two players may raise some eyebrows.

Carl Pettersson sits alone atop the leaderboard at six-under par. Gary Woodland is one stroke behind him, along with Rory McIlroy, Alex Noren and Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano.

After that, the tournament is a cluster of three- and four-under par performers. Tiger Woods, Adam Scott, Keegan Bradley and Geoff Ogilvy all fall under that category.

It was an eventful first day. Let's check out the Top 10 standings.

*Leaderboard courtesy of pga.com

Place	Player	Score
1	Carl Pettersson	-6
T2	Gary Woodland	-5
T2	Rory McIlroy	-5
T2	Gonzalo Fernandez-Costano	-5
T2	Alex Noren	-5
T6	John Daly	-4
T6	Geoff Ogilvy	-4
T6	Keegan Bradley	-4
T6	Joost Luiten	-4
T6	Aaron Baddeley	-4

Cut-Line Projections

The cut line looks like it will be pretty modest after the first round. The top 70 golfers make the cut, and the line will be somewhere around even-par. It could even jump to somewhere around one- or two-over par.

Some notable golfers are walking the line right now.

David Toms and Jim Furyk finished the day at even-par, and they could be sweating things out on Friday. If they play worse, they may not make it to the weekend.

Ricky Fowler is floating on the fringe, and Dustin Johnson, Hunter Mahan and Ernie Els are also currently floating around that mark.

It's hard to imagine that Mickelson won't return to form at some point. I like him to come out with a huge performance on Friday, and the same goes for Watson. Both players are trying to regain their world-class form, and both know what it takes to do so.

Thursday's first round was tight, but I expect the second round to create some separation. The cut line is hotly contested right now, but it will be much clearer before Friday's action gets too far along.

Major tournaments separate the men from the boys in the golfing world. Losing the tournament is one thing, but no one wants to be cut before the weekend's action even begins.

Several household names are on the fringe entering Friday's action, but one round, one way or the other, can severely alter the overall standings.

What to Expect on Day 2

Pettersson hit the ball extremely well on Thursday, but I don't expect him to maintain that pace. It may seem predictable, but I like Woods to climb the leaderboard on Friday.

Woods showed flashes of brilliance in Round 1 on Thursday, but critical bogey shots put him further back than he would have liked. Even so, he's only three strokes behind the leader.

He played inconsistent but solid golf in the opening round.

I also expect a household name to emerge from the middle of the pack. I already mentioned the golfers hanging around the prospective cut line, and I expect at least one of those major names to climb the leaderboard rather quickly.

Golfers cannot win the tournament on Thursday, or even Friday, but they can definitely lose it. Struggling players like Mickelson and Watson know this, and they won't take something like that lightly.

Look for a big bounce back from those two, and expect Woods to play even better on Day 2.