Masters Leaderboard 2015: Updates on Golf's Top Scorers on Thursday

The Masters is a tournament that often goes through a series of ebbs and flows. There hasn't been a champion to break 10 under par since Bubba Watson in 2012, so getting off to a good start on Thursday sets you up for big things over the weekend. 

Yet there's also a downside to leading after 18 holes. The last champion to be in the top spot or tied for the top spot after Round 1 was Trevor Immelman in 2008. In fact, he went wire-to-wire despite shooting a 75 in the final round. 

Looking at the early standings from this year's Masters, things have played out about the way you would expect. Some players have taken advantage of soft greens early to pick up a few shots, but largely, players are hanging around par. 

Now, it's worth mentioning at the time of this post that top contenders like Jordan Spieth and Jimmy Walker have yet to tee off, so things can change once the evening hits. Here's a look at the leaderboard and top scores from early at Augusta National. 

The big winner from the morning session was Charley Hoffman, who has been playing well recently and finished with a strong five-under 67. The 38-year-old has finished 11th in the last two PGA Tour events coming into the Masters and carried that momentum over. 

It's still early and a lot can happen for Hoffman, but this is already shaping up to be his best weekend at Augusta. He's only played the Masters once, finishing tied for 27th in 2011, so there's not a high bar to clear, but this is a great start nonetheless. 

Per Matt Barrie of ESPN, Hoffman's run of success came as he was closing out his round:

Hoffman is no stranger to leading after 18 holes, recently doing it at the Texas Open on March 26. He lost his swing as the weekend went on, particularly in the third round with a 79—that cost him any shot at winning. Third rounds in general haven't been kind to the California native, who also shot a 74 last week. 

If you believe in kismet or coincidence, Jason Sobel of ESPN points out why Hoffman may be in the Masters' good graces:

I'm not going to buy into that, instead giving Hoffman credit for a strong round. Starts haven't been his problem in 2015, so keep a close eye on how things shake out on Friday and Saturday.

Dustin Johnson entered the Masters on a roll and seemed positioned to compete for his first career major championship. Shane Bacon of Fox Sports wrote that this would be Johnson's best performance at Augusta:

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One of the most consistent golfers on the planet, and a guy coming back from an absence in golf who already has a win under his belt in 2015, Johnson has never finished in the top 10 at the Masters. I don't think I'm breaking any sort of news here, but that will change this week. Johnson hits the ball a kilometer, turns it over just like you must at Augusta and is one of the few out there who turns all the par-5s at this golf course into par-4s. If Johnson can get the short stick rolling, he will be in contention, but even if his putter isn't red-hot this week, it'll still be a good showing for the 30-year-old.

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While he hasn't fallen on his face, Johnson has been all over the map so far. He had a six-hole run from three through eight that went bogey-bogey-birdie-birdie-bogey-birdie. There's a reason that the 30-year-old has never finished higher than tied for 13th at this tournament. 

To win on the PGA Tour, consistency has to be your best friend. The only thing to say about Johnson's round thus far is that it's been consistently inconsistent. Some players would fall apart under those circumstances, so let's give him credit for hanging around even par to this point. 

Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

Johnson has the big swing and power, leading the PGA Tour in driving distance, to put himself in position to save a lot of shots as he gets on the green, but the putter has to come around. 

Moving into the afternoon session, even with McIlroy and Spieth teeing off, all eyes will be on Tiger Woods at 1:48 p.m. ET. The four-time Masters champion is playing for the first time in two months and trying to make his first cut since December. 

Woods has talked about everything he's done since taking time away to get ready for Augusta, via ESPN's Bob Harig:

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People would never understand how much work I put into it to come back and do this again. It was sunup to sundown, and whenever I had free time; if the kids were asleep, I'd still be doing it, and then when they were in school, I'd still be doing it. So it was a lot of work.

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It's great that Woods did the work necessary to play again, though you would have been hard-pressed to find someone who didn't believe that he would return for the Masters regardless of how his body felt. Now, however, the real test begins. 

There have been multiple instances in the past when Woods stepped away to work on things, then said he was feeling great and everything was better only to fall on his sword. Mark O'Meara said in the days leading up to the Masters that we should "never underestimate Tiger," via Alan Bastable of Golf.com. 

It's impossible to underestimate Woods at this point because he's given us nothing to estimate. All that we can go by is the name. There are recent failures and withdraws that show this is a player at a career crossroads.

Whether Woods takes the right or wrong path may not be known for a while, though we will get some idea based on what happens Thursday. 

Based on early returns from the opening round, there are going to be a lot of low scores going around. Given the fickle nature of golf and the weather, that may not carry over to Friday, so players must take advantage of it right now. 

Hoffman certainly did; Justin Rose and Russell Henley are doing it. It's shaping up to be a terrific tournament with a lot of competition at the top. That's all you can ask for at Augusta.