Arnold Palmer Invitational 2016: Thursday Leaderboard Scores and Highlights

The opening round of Thursday's Arnold Palmer Invitational featured a jam-packed leaderboard at Bay Hill Club and Lodge in Orlando, Florida, but a true superstar finished alone at the top.  

Jason Day carded eight birdies and an eagle during a six-under 66 to take the lead by one stroke over five other players. Notables among the pack at five under are Adam Scott and Henrik Stenson.

Day picked up steam on the front nine with four birdies in his first eight holes to offset a dropped shot at the par-three second. But adversity struck when, on an otherwise magnificent driving display, he yanked his tee shot at the par-four ninth out of bounds, leading to a double bogey.

Despite the sour taste as he made the turn, the one bad swing didn't discourage Day, who proceeded to light up the back nine with a five-under 31, highlighted by an eagle at the 16th.

But Day's most impressive sequence may have been before the eagle at the 15th, where he punched a 5-iron onto the green pin high and drained the putt for a most unconventional birdie:

That putt to finish the birdie off was one of only 22 Day needed on the round. His most difficult one may have been at the last, when he stared down a slick downhill putt and drained it to keep his back-nine card clean.

As mentioned before, Scott is in the group at five under as he continues an absolutely dominant stretch of golf. After tying for second at the Northern Trust Open, Day's Australian compatriot has won his past two starts on tough courses.

Golf Channel supplied context behind Scott's latest quest for the hardware when he matched the clubhouse lead:

Scott also made eagle on No. 16, a short par five, and scored extremely well considering he hit only 10 of 18 greens in regulation. If someone of Scott's ball-striking caliber has his short game functioning that well, there are few others than Day who can top him.

No Laying Up hinted at the massive success Scott has enjoyed on the Florida Swing, featuring a slate of rather difficult courses:

Australia had quite a fine showing on Thursday with Marc Leishman joining the action at five under par after a round of 67. Brendan Steele and Troy Merritt were the only other golfers to score that well.

Jason Sobel of ESPN.com had a clever seasonal reaction to Leishman's ascent:

Also worth monitoring for the rest of the Arnold Palmer Invitational is Stenson. The strapping Swede put on a clinic off the tee and with his irons on Thursday, playing as well as anyone near the top from tee to green.

Golf Channel's Justin Ray illustrated why Stenson is such a force to be reckoned with in this event, where he finished second in 2015:

Two-time defending tournament champion Matt Every kept it in red figures to begin efforts for a three-peat, carding a 71 that could have been one or two better if not for some rotten pin luck:

So just to reassess what happened at Bay Hill in the first 18 holes of action: The man who ascended past Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy to world No. 1 late last season is leading. That's Day.

His fellow countryman in Scott, who is with little argument the hottest golfer on the planet right now, is only one stroke behind. The same is true for Stenson, a prior FedEx Cup champion who's still searching for his first major as the Masters Tournament looms next month.

Speaking of McIlroy, he carded a three-over 75 and will be fortunate to make the Bay Hill cut. He has the chance to complete the career Grand Slam at the Masters but must bounce back soon for that to be a realistic possibility.

Post-Round Reaction

Day was pleased with how Thursday unfolded as he played alongside Hideki Matsuyama and Zach Johnson, two exceptional players in their own right who are within striking distance after shooting two-under 70s:

"If I can build on this, that would be great, especially with that big tournament coming up everyone's talking about," said Day in reference to the Masters, per Sobel.

Scott was pleased with how he managed to grind out a great score but acknowledged he'd have to improve his all-around game to be in the thick of things come Sunday, per AP News (via Golf.com):

"

I didn't play my best golf tee-to-green, but I chipped and putted really well today. That's a nice feeling when you shoot as low as you possibly can.

[...] On one day, that's OK. But I'm going to have to sharpen up, I think, to contend this week. The course is so pure, conditions are really good. Someone who is hitting it good is going to make a lot of putts because the greens are rolling pure. If you can get it inside 20 feet you're feeling like you're going to make everything.

"

ESPN's Bob Harig logged what McIlroy had to say about his poor score and the blustery conditions that made the round even tougher: "It was a big surprise out there to be fair."

McIlroy has recently switched to a cross-handed putting grip, and he'll need to roll the rock well and have his swing in sync for Friday as he tries to make up ground to get inside the cut line.