Wells Fargo Championship 2015: Leaderboard Scores and Highlights from Thursday

It's been a rough couple of months for Robert Streb. His first Masters Tournament appearance ended in ignominy, as he was cut from the field as the capper in a string of three straight early ousters. He's finished no better than a tie for 30th since January's Phoenix Open, nearly nosediving out of the top 100 players in the world.

None of those foibles was on display Thursday, as he fired a seven-under 65 to take a first-round lead at the Wells Fargo Championship. Brilliant on the greens all day, Streb needed only 26 putts to card seven birdies without a single over-par score.

"Everything is trending the right way at the moment," Streb said to reporters, per Reuters. "I got the putter going, got my hands pushed forward a little bit and finally just made some putts over five, six feet. Last week was the first time in a while I felt like I had putted solid for the most part."

Streb was able to put together one of the best rounds of his career despite spraying his driver all over the course. The 28-year-old Oklahoma native hit just 42.86 percent of his drives on the fairway at Quail Hollow Club, which tends to give top pros fits with its narrow fairways. His length off the tee wound up being his saving grace, helping him hit more than three-quarters of his greens in regulation.   

Streb hit a birdie on each of the course's four par fives. Excellent iron play also allowed him to conquer a couple of par threes in two.

Sitting in second at six under are Patrick Reed and Kevin Chappell.

A hot start and close defined Chappell's day. Starting on the back nine, he birdied three of his first six holes to make the turn at 33 and recovered from a bogey at No. 1 to go four under the rest of the way. Long off the tee all day, Chappell eagled the par-five seventh after getting on the green in two and nailing a 37-foot birdie putt.

Like Streb, Chappell is in the midst of a miserable stretch. He has been cut six times in his last seven events, with the lone exception being a tie for 66th at March's Texas Open. 

Reed, who has finished 24th or better in seven of his last eight tournaments, tied Thursday's high with eight birdies against two bogeys. He was at one point tied with Streb atop the leaderboard before faltering on No. 17. 

Despite his late mistake, Reed sits well ahead of playing partner Rory McIlroy, who is five strokes off the lead at two under. McIlroy had a high-variance round, carding six birdies but adding two bogeys and a double on No. 17. The world No. 1 hit his drive in the water before two-putting from eight feet out to card a disappointing five on the par-three hole.

Putting was an issue all day for McIlroy, as he narrowly missed a number of birdie chances. Playing for the third straight week, McIlroy has not finished worse than 11th on the PGA Tour since being cut at February's Honda Classic.

Also feeling like he left something on the course was Phil Mickelson, who was one under with a 71. Starting off on the back nine, Lefty carded three straight birdies and looked like he was planning to go low.

Unfortunately, a double on No. 18 started a three-hole stretch where he went four over. He managed to recover with back-to-back birdies on Nos. 4 and 5, but messy driver and iron play left him closer to the cut line than the leaderboard.

“I turned a 66 into a 71 today, but I played 11 holes really well. I played seven holes very poorly,” Mickelson said, per Sean Martin of the Tour's official website. “What I’m pleased with is that I’m still making a number of birdies. It’s much easier to eliminate mistakes than it is to make birdies.”

Mickelson is still looking for his first win at Quail Hollow in his 12 opportunities. The former top-ranked player is coming off being cut at The Players Championship, which undid most of the goodwill he'd engendered at Augusta National. With the remainder of his year littered with results outside the top 10, it'd be a surprise to see the 12th time be the charm.

Among the other notables, Adam Scott is tied with Mickelson at one under, and Henrik Stenson is hanging around the cut line at even alongside Jim Furyk and others. There are currently zero top-10 players within four strokes of the lead.

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