BMW Championship 2012: Grading the Favorites' Round 1 Performances

With the first round finally complete at the 2012 BMW Championship, it's time for us to react to Thursday's leaderboard. If the Round 1 scores are any indication, this could be the week for some gaudy final scores on Sunday.

Just 10 golfers out of the 70 that took the trip to Carmel, Indiana, went over par in Round 1, and an astounding 15 golfers went five under or better on Thursday. 

With the course playing easy and the scores going low, how did golf's most notable stars do in Round 1 of the FedEx Cup's third leg?

Here's a look at the favorites' scores accompanied by a grade of their performance on Thursday. 

(All pre-tournament odds are courtesy of Bovada.lv.)

Tiger Woods

Pre-Tournament Odds: 6-1

Round 1 Score: 65 (-7)

With birdies on his first two holes Thursday, Tiger got off to another (forgive the pun) roaring start en route to a brilliant opening-round 65 at Crooked Stick.

That score matches his seven-under first round in last week's Deutsche Bank Championship, where Woods went on to finish in third place.

And even though there is much joy to be had in any score of 65, it's indisputable that golf's first $100 million man left a better score on the course. Woods hit just 50 percent of his drives on the fairway, often forcing spectacular second shots or scrambles to save par. 

Nevertheless, it was Woods' putter that saved the day Thursday. He putted just 1.4 times per hole in Round 1, leaving memories of "Old Tiger" in his wake. 

If Woods can continue putting well and get some consistency off the tee, it could mean glory on Sunday.

Grade: A-

Rory McIlroy

Pre-Tournament Odds: 15-2

Round 1 Score: 64 (-8)

Boy, there certainly wasn't any hangover from McIlroy's victory at the Deutsche Bank, was there? 

An opening-round score of 64 leaves McIlroy heading into Friday's second round tied for the lead and once again looking like the world's best golfer. 

The 23-year-old Irishman was long (309.2 yards per drive) and accurate (78.6 percent driving accuracy) off the tee and seemingly picked apart the course all day. McIlroy's only bogey came on the 13th hole, but he bounced right back with one of his seven birdies on the 14th and a sensational eagle on the 15th.

Simply put, we're watching the world's best golfer right now playing at a peak we haven't seen since the nice gentleman we already checked in on. If McIlroy keeps up this duality of length and accuracy, no one has a shot in the last three rounds. 

Grade: A

Jason Dufner

Pre-Tournament Odds: 22-1

Round 1 Score: 72 (E)

After sitting out the first leg of the FedEx Cup and middling his way to a tie for 18th last week, a strong start on Thursday was necessary for Dufner's playoff chances.

Well, with seemingly every other contender going low in the first round, Dufner fell flat. An even-par score of 72 places the 35-year-old in a tie for 56th place and eight shots behind the leaders.

It wasn't a particularly wretched round for Dufner, though. He hit 64.3 percent of his drives on the fairway and was on the green in regulation 61.1 percent of the time.

Dufner's game failed once he reached the short grass. With 1.7 puts per hole, the American turned birdies into pars and pars into bogeys every chance he had.

The course will get tougher over the next rounds, so don't look for a renaissance from Dufner this weekend.

Grade: C-