Puerto Rico Open 2016: Thursday Leaderboard Scores and Highlights

The Puerto Rico Open starts opposite the World Golf Championships-Dell Match Play event, but the regular PGA Tour stop at Coco Beach Golf and Country Club in Rio Grande boasts its fair share of big names.

After Thursday's first round, though, an unheralded player is atop the leaderboard. Rafael Campos fired an eight-under 64 to claim a one-stroke lead over George McNeill through 18 holes.

Here is an overview of where the top golfers stand through one round of action:

Pos.	Player	Score	To Par
1	Rafael Campos	64	-8
2	George McNeill	65	-7
T3	Alex Cejka	66	-6
T3	Aaron Baddeley	66	-6
T3	Frank Lickliter II	66	-6
T3	Will MacKenzie	66	-6
T7	Billy Mayfair	67	-5
T7	Cameron Beckman	67	-5
T7	Mark Hubbard	67	-5
T7	Michael Bradley	67	-5
T7	Kyle Reifers	67	-5
T7	Darron Stiles	67	-5
T7	Adam Svennson	67	-5

So there's a logjam in the early going, with as many as 32 players within five strokes of the lead.

Former world No. 1 Luke Donald is among a massive group at three under par. Donald carded three birdies in his first seven holes but played the rest of his round at par.

Coco Beach's back nine played tougher Thursday, which made Campos' matching scores of 32 on each side more impressive. Currently ranked 591st in the world, Campos is in prime position to make a big move in the hierarchy to advance his career.

Golfweek's Jeff Babineau noted the hot streak Campos had from Nos. 9 through 12 and referenced his local ties:

This has to be an especially welcome development for the native gallery favorite, considering Campos' Puerto Rico Open ended in a missed cut last year, largely because of a woeful opening-round 79 (h/t Fox Sports).

Rotoworld's Josh Culp highlighted Campos' underwhelming record at the event coming in:

The aforementioned cluster at three under also features long-hitting American young guns Tony Finau and Patrick Rodgers, along with 2014 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year Chesson Hadley, who won the Puerto Rico Open that year.

Rodgers had a roller-coaster round en route to six birdies, an eagle and a double bogey, but Hadley had a memorable moment when celebrating one of the best shots of the day, via the PGA Tour:

McNeill was on top in the morning wave, holding the clubhouse lead for much of the day until Campos came in one better.

Having missed six of eight cuts this season, McNeill needed something to go right and at least got off to a proper start in Rio Grande thanks to six birdies on the front nine, which was his last. A bogey at the par-four ninth ended his round on a sour note, but McNeill had to be thrilled with his form.

Among the players most prominently in contention, Aaron Baddeley and Alex Cejka stand out. While he's always dangerous with the putter, Baddeley's long game often betrays him.

The 35-year-old's game was firing on all cylinders in Round 1, as he hit 10 of 14 fairways and 13 of 18 greens in regulation and rolled the rock well. Baddeley finished in spectacular fashion with an eagle at the par-five 15th and birdies at the last two holes.

As the reigning tournament champion, Cejka has done well to commence his title defense and evidently has confidence at this venue, dropping only one shot and making seven birdies for a six-under 66.

It's still early enough for anyone within shouting distance of the lead to make up ground quickly. Campos is not a proven commodity, will be sleeping on the lead and will have the pressure of being a front-runner while his top competition should be able to be more aggressive in terms of course management.

Post-Round Reaction

One of the surprise names to pop up on the leaderbaord was Billy Mayfair, a five-time winner on the PGA Tour who's eligible for the Champions Tour in August.

Mayfair had a great quote afterwards, saying about his future outlook, per Golfweek's Babineau, "I'm probably one of the few people in the country who can’t wait to turn 50. It'll be fun to go out and see everybody again."

Rodgers acknowledged he got a bit sloppy on Thursday but seemed optimistic about his chances this week.

"Happy with my round today. A lot of offense. If I can limit the mistakes tomorrow should be in good shape," tweeted Rodgers.

A focus on fixing his long game has helped Baddeley in working with new instructor Scott Hamilton, as he explained in a post-round interview.

"I've been working with [Hamilton] since July, and he really got to the crux of two main problems in my swing," said Baddeley, as recorded by OnTour Golf on Twitter. "We've just been working on those basically for, like, six [to] eight months...this whole year I've felt pretty comfortable with my game."

Note: Stats and information courtesy of PGATour.com unless otherwise indicated.