Players Championship 2016: Leaderboard Scores and Highlights from Thursday

Jason Day has never won The Players Championship, but the world's No. 1 golfer may end that drought in 2016. Through one round at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, Day leads the field at nine under par.

Five golfers are tied for second Thursday at seven under:

Day's opening-round 63 tied a course record, per Doug Ferguson of the Associated Press. The PGA Tour showed that Day's score represented a massive turnaround from last year:

The 28-year-old Australian got off to an excellent start, birdieing his first three holes on the back nine, per Bet365:

Day then birdied No. 17, and after making the turn, he carded three birdies over the next four holes. He ended his round on a high note, chipping out of the bunker to within four inches on No. 9, via the PGA Tour:

Day wasn't excellent off the tee, landing just eight of his 14 drives on the fairway. His approach play, however, couldn't have been any better. He reached 15 greens in regulation and went 2-of-2 on sand saves.

Golf Channel's Rex Hoggard shared a photo of the club that made it all possible:

The 2015 PGA Championship winner is likely to cool off over the weekend, but even if he does, he should remain in a great position to win his first title at The Players Championship.

He'll have a tough fight from Shane Lowry after the 29-year-old Irishman made history of his own. Lowry carded five birdies and an eagle on the back nine Thursday. According to the PGA Tour, he was the first golfer to shoot under 30 (29) on the back nine at TPC Sawgrass.

Cameron Tringale, Justin Rose, Bill Haas and Brendan Steele didn't enjoy the same level of success over a nine-hole stretch, but they all equaled Lowry's seven-under 65 for the round.

Tringale was the biggest surprise of the group. He has never won a PGA Tour event in 178 tries, and he has 16 top-10 finishes to his name.

According to the PGA Tour's Twitter account, Tringale's seven birdie putts came from a total of 45 feet. His approach on the dreaded island green was evidence that he did the heavy lifting with his irons Thursday. Tringale's tee shot landed three feet from the hole:

Defending champion Rickie Fowler was one of three stars who finished at even par. He, Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy own a share of 82nd place.

Rather than with his play on the course, most fans were mesmerized by Fowler's choice of footwear, per Randall Mell of Golf Channel:

Spieth endured a brutal—by his standards—front nine, carding two bogeys and double-bogeying the ninth hole to finish his round. ESPN Stats & Info noted that Thursday was the continuation of a recent trend:

Fowler had a similar end to his round after he double-bogeyed the 18th hole.

McIlroy, meanwhile, couldn't find a groove. CBS Sports' Kyle Porter encapsulated the uneven round:

For whatever reason, McIlroy has struggled mightily on the opening nine holes, per Golf Channel's Justin Ray:

It's too early to write off Fowler, Spieth and McIlroy as title challengers, but they'll first have to worry about making the cut, which isn't a given in their current positions.

Post-Round Reaction

Spieth responded bluntly when asked about his double bogey on No. 9, per ESPN.com's Jason Sobel: "I hit it seven times."

Day was the polar opposite in terms of mood after the round.

"I can't really recall the way that I hit the ball as well as I did today, and then also putting as well as I did," he said, per USA Today's Steve DiMeglio.

Day added that the course conditions were conducive to low scoring.

"The greens were very receptive out there," he said, per DiMeglio. "The temperature was hot, so the ball was going a long way, and when the ball goes a long way, you're coming in with shorter clubs if you hit the fairways. And we thought the greens were sticking and a lot of guys could attack the pins that we had out there."

The secret for Lowry might have been a phone call with his coach, Neil Manchip, as he told Sky Sports' Keith Jackson:

"

I had a bit of an emergency phone call with my coach this morning before I played. I just wanted to get some feelings off my chest. Things have not been going well and I did not feel comfortable on the golf course. ... [Manchip told me to] just go out and try to play my game, pick some targets was the big thing and try to hit it at them. If it does not happen it's not the end of the world. That was the gist of it and it seemed to work today.

"