Bridgestone Invitational 2013 Leaderboard: Day 1 Analysis, Highlights and More

Webb Simpson made the most of his debut at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, shooting a six-under 64 to take a one-stroke lead over Henrik Stenson on Firestone Country Club's South Course in Akron, Ohio, on Thursday.

Plenty of big names are in the hunt after Round 1 in this field filled with golf's best talent. Seven-time tournament winner Tiger Woods headlines a huge bunch of players at four under par, while defending champion Keegan Bradley is also part of that group.   

Below is a look at the top contenders entering the second round. For the complete scores, visit PGA.com.

Position	Player	Score	To Par
1	Webb Simpson	64	-6
2	Henrik Stenson	65	-5
T3	Tiger Woods	66	-4
T3	Keegan Bradley	66	-4
T3	Chris Wood	66	-4
T3	Ryan Moore	66	-4
T7	Luke Donald	67	-3
T7	Jason Dufner	67	-3
T7	Rickie Fowler	67	-3
T7	Bill Haas	67	-3
T7	Bubba Watson	67	-3
T7	Jim Furyk	67	-3

Note: Statistics are courtesy of PGATour.com. Tournament history can be located at the Official World Golf Ranking.

Simpson hasn't captured a trophy since his 2012 U.S. Open victory, but he is on a promising course after 18 holes at Firestone.

Perhaps we should have seen this hot start coming from Simpson despite his relatively poor tie for 64th at the British Open, as Golf Channel's Todd Lewis suggests.

He began on the back nine and piled up six birdies in his first 11 holes—including four in a row from No. 17 through No. 2—before cooling off to level par the rest of the way.

Still, such a low number is difficult to come by at this venue, and Simpson's phenomenal day on the greens, in which he needed only 23 putts, allowed him to ascend to the top of the leaderboard.

It's going to take quite an effort for Simpson to remain out in front if his iron play continues to be spotty, because other hot players are giving chase and should be factors over the final three rounds.

Let's take a look at some of the other storylines in the early going in Akron.

Tiger in Top Form

An array of impressive approach shots defined Tiger Woods' British Open performance, and that was the case again on Thursday. The world No. 1 found 16 of 18 greens in regulation and hit over 71 percent of fairways.

Woods got better as the round progressed too. After starting on the back nine and posting even par, he birdied four of his last nine holes to post a 66.

That just might be the magic number that boosts Woods to his eighth win at Firestone—and first victory overall since The Players in early May—per ESPN's Justin Ray:

It's about what Woods felt he should have shot, and he felt he had solid control on his distances amid the blustery conditions.

No one has approached the level of success Woods has had in Akron, so the fact that he's on top of his game at this juncture of the tournament is bad news for the rest of the field.

Stenson's Scintillating Streak Continues

The past three tournaments for Henrik Stenson have looked like this: a tie for 10th in the BMW International Open, a tie for third at the Scottish Open—in which he held the 54-hole lead—and a runner-up in the British Open.

To say Stenson has been on fire lately is an understatement, and there may be no better golfer in the world right now from tee to green.

Stenson wasn't quite as precise as he's been off the tee or in terms of getting birdie looks, but he capitalized on the ones he had and made some key par saves to shoot 65.

It's been quite a career of peaks and valleys for Stenson, which Kelly Tilghman compared to that of Lee Westwood.

Like Westwood, the 19th-ranked Stenson has yet to break through at a major, but if this level of play continues as he heads into next week's PGA Championship, perhaps it's the strong Swede's time to experience that type of glory.

Formidable Duo Lives Up to Hype

The very last pairing of the day to start on No. 1 was Keegan Bradley and Luke Donald, who have both had relatively inconsistent 2013 campaigns and have each yet to find the winner's circle.

If their early play is any indication, each star should be a threat on the weekend.

Donald did bogey the final hole and stumbled a bit on the back nine after birdieing four of his first seven holes to go out in 31, but it's a far cry from where his game has been recently.

One of the steadiest, most consistent players on the planet, the Englishman missed the cut badly at the British Open in yet another major disappointment, and that carried over to the RBC Canadian Open, where he failed to make the weekend.

The smaller field and lack of weekend cut line leave no pressure in that regard, and Donald played that way for much of the day en route to a 67.

Donald's back-to-back approaches on Nos. 14 and 15 that led to birdies were particularly impressive.

Meanwhile, Bradley got his title defense off to bogey-free start by going four under, with an average proximity to the hole of just 21'4" in hitting 15 of 18 greens in regulation.

It will be entertaining to see what these two do on Friday with an earlier start at 10:10 a.m., which should lend to slightly softer conditions if predicted thunderstorms roll through and possibly lower scores.