Deutsche Bank Championship 2015: Leaderboard Scores and Highlights from Friday

Friday's opening round at the Deutsche Bank Championship featured plenty of low scores, but it was a particularly brutal day for Jordan Spieth.

The 2015 Masters and U.S. Open champion continues to struggle late in the season, shooting a four-over 75 after missing the cut at The Barclays last week. Before a full-blown panic sets in, he was the runner-up at the PGA Championship three weeks ago.

Golf is a fickle game designed to humble even the best players. Spieth's issues are a sign that the 22-year-old has a lot to learn before he can consistently dominate the PGA Tour like he did early in the year. 

Brendon de Jonge did have a day to brag about, taking the first-round lead with a stellar 65. He's had strong individual rounds this season, notably a 64 in the Zurich Classic's first round, but hasn't been able to close consistently, with just three top-10 finishes in 29 events.

Here's the full leaderboard after the first round of this year's Deutsche Bank Championship:

Friday Recap

Going back to The Barclays, Spieth has a three-round total of 222 after his 75 today. Per ESPN Stats & Info, it's been more than one year since he's had a 54-hole stretch this bad:   

Spieth did seem to attribute some of his problems last week to changing his irons, telling ESPN.com's Jason Sobel he was switching back to the old ones for the Deutsche Bank Championship:

"

I normally change once a year between irons. Even when they've updated the irons, I still had no problem. I had some time at home to change between the PGA and the Barclays, and didn't see many issues or any differences, so I figured it would be no problem. And then I just felt that they were sliding through the turf a little different and the look was a bit of an adjustment. They looked slightly different.

"

Friday showed that Spieth's clubs weren't the only problem. Starting on the back nine, Spieth got off to a rough start with five bogeys before making the turn. His score to par in the round matched his worst of the season, per Golf Channel's Justin Ray:

Even though Spieth's performance will be talked about the most, plenty of players walked off the course feeling good about their positions.

Jason Day, who has won his last two events, continued his hot streak by shooting three under and is firmly in the mix for another title heading into the second round.

Unlike Spieth, whom he was partnered with, Day started off on fire, with three birdies on his first three holes—with the final one looking like this, per the PGA Tour:

He eventually got to five under after 13 holes. He did stumble with bogeys on his 14th and 18th holes, though.

A victory this week would put Day in exclusive company, per Ray:

Day's ascent this season has been relatively quiet, at least when compared to the constant noise around Spieth and Rory McIlroy. It could be because he's the oldest player in the group, though 27 is hardly the time to pull out the AARP card.

Speaking of McIlroy, the world's top-ranked player is off to a decent start with a one-under 70. He did end things on a bad note with back-to-back bogeys, dropping him into a tie for 26th place. 

However, Day and McIlroy are looking up at de Jonge heading into the second round. Despite those three top-10 finishes under his belt in 2015, Sobel pointed out it's been a long time since de Jonge has had a solid tournament:

That bodes well for everyone looking up at de Jonge as the tournament moves along. His ability to avoid a bad round has been his Achilles' heel, posting just two rounds under 70 in the last nine rounds he has played.

All eyes will be on Day as he looks to join the list of players who have won five tournaments in a single season, but he will have to overcome a crowded leaderboard that features nine players in a tie for second place.