US Open Golf 2013 Leaderboard: Day 1 Updates on Golf's Top Stars and Sleepers

The first day of U.S. Open action was stopped early in the day due to a passing storm. Luckily, the skies cleared and Merion Golf Club dried out enough for play to resume. Players didn't want to fall too far behind in Round 1 of the season's second major.

Although the rain forced the start of the marquee group, featuring Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Adam Scott, to get pushed back, there are still plenty of big names and potential sleeper contenders on the course attempting to go low on Day 1.

Every player has been impacted by the weather in one way or another, so winning the event will come down to overcoming whatever adversity these next few days provide. Here's a look at the updated leaderboard, followed by a breakdown of some early storylines.

2013 U.S. Open Leaderboard

Early Tournament Storylines

Sergio Garcia Struggling

Garcia received plenty of attention when he arrived at Merion. Unfortunately for him, it had nothing to do with the state of his golf game or the chances of winning his first career major. It was all about the ongoing drama involving Tiger Woods.

When you combine that negative attention with the fact Garcia has never been known as the most mentally strong player on the PGA Tour, poor play was almost expected this week. Sure enough, he's gotten off to a nightmarish start.

Jason Sobel of Golf Channel summed up the play by Garcia. He made a bogey on his first hole of the day (11th) and carded a total of 14 on the 14th and 15th holes. All told, he currently stands near the bottom of the board at 6-over par.

Ian Poulter Highlights Group of Overlooked Contenders

One of the best things about the U.S. Open is the tough scoring conditions. The courses they choose are supreme challenges, even for the best players in the world, which adds an extra layer of unpredictability to the tournament.

It also opens the door for players like Poulter (-1) and Tim Clark (-2) to make some noise. Both players were well off the radar heading into the event, but are hanging tough early. In Clark's case, that's good enough to share the lead for now.

Other sleepers to keep an eye on are Mike Weir (-1) and Nicolas Colsaerts (E). Only time will tell if any of these players are able to keep pace heading into the weekend and beyond. But they are all striking the ball well so far.

Big Names Still To Come

Posting low scores early is key because the top-three players in the world are waiting to take the course. Woods (No. 1), McIlroy (No. 2) and Scott (No. 3) are now scheduled to begin their opening round just before 5 p.m. ET, according to NBC Sports.

It shouldn't surprise anybody if the eventual U.S. Open champion comes out of that group. Woods has been on fire aside from a hiccup in his last start. Scott won the Masters, the season's first major. And McIlroy is always a threat despite some up-and-down play.

Other prominent players that will take to the course during the afternoon include Luke Donald, Ernie Els, Graeme McDowell and Angel Cabrera, among others. Exactly how far they will get before darkness sets in remains unclear.