FedEx St. Jude Classic 2016: Thursday Leaderboard Scores and Highlights

The 2016 FedEx St. Jude Classic kicked off Thursday, with Seung-Yul Noh, Tom Hoge and Shawn Stefani ending in a three-way tie for first place with a score of five under.  

With many of the top players taking this weekend off, including Jordan Spieth and Jason Day, things are wide open for an under-the-radar contender to make a name for himself in Memphis, Tennessee. 

Here's the full leaderboard after 18 holes at TPC Southwind:

Stefani is one of the most surprising leaders—or co-leaders, in this case—of the PGA Tour season. He's played in 20 events, has made eight cuts and has not finished higher than 25th in any tournament. 

At 34 years old, Stefani has been around the course a few times. His last win of any kind came on the Web.com Tour at the Miccosukee Championship in 2012. 

There's a lot of time left for things to happen, but Stefani can take bragging rights for one day in the pool for best shot on the ninth fairway, via the PGA Tour Twitter account:

Noh and Hoge got their rounds out of the way early, walking off the course in a tie for first at five under par. Noh has been flirting with doing big things lately, opening the Dean & DeLuca Invitational with rounds of 67 and 68 before being undone with a 75.

Hoge played a blemish-free round, making five birdies with no bogeys. His score of 65 marked his best output in a single round since he shot a 64 to open the AT&T Byron Nelson on May 19.

The 27-year-old played well most of the weekend during the Byron Nelson with three straight rounds under 70, but a final-round 74 knocked him down to 49th place. Hoge is trying to find consistency to his game after posting two top-10 finishes and seven missed cuts this season. 

Another player who is trying to put together four strong, consistent rounds of golf is Dustin Johnson. The 31-year-old got off to another strong start at four under par with a 66 that also included a brief run as the leader thanks to this birdie on No. 6, via the PGA Tour Twitter account:

ESPN's Jason Sobel noted Johnson's round was a prototypical performance for the power striker:

Unfortunately for Johnson, that one remaining hole turned out to be one that knocked him off the lead. He bogeyed No. 9 after starting on the back nine, going into the clubhouse on a sour note after an otherwise stellar opening. 

One feather Johnson can put in his cap is boasting the day's weirdest shot thanks to some help from the cart path, via the PGA Tour:

Phil Mickelson had an OK start to the tournament. He continues to play with no consistency, but he was able to contain things well enough to finish with an even-par 70 and remain in shouting distance of the leaders. 

Mickelson's putter was his savior, as he gained 4.3 shots on the green with his short game. It made up for his below-average driving accuracy (50 percent) and greens in regulation (50 percent). 

Rex Hoggard of the Golf Channel did note that Mickelson "seemed tired" after his round ended. Lefty played in the Memorial last week and took a trip to Oakmont to prepare for the U.S. Open next week. 

Even with some struggles, Justin Ray of the Golf Channel did provide reasons for Mickelson to be optimistic for the rest of this weekend:

If momentum exists in golf, Mickelson is trying to build some before the U.S. Open. He has only one top-10 finish in his last eight tournaments, though Lefty did rebound last week with a solid 20th-place finish at the Memorial after missing the cut at the Players Championship. 

An unpredictable leaderboard at the FedEx St. Jude Classic after Thursday's opening round has left things open heading into the second round. There figures to be a lot of movement Friday as things begin to sort out. 

Hoge, Noh and Stefani need to keep the pressure on everyone else due to their inexperience as tournament leaders. No one has pulled away from the field, which gives everyone a chance to make a big move with one strong round. 

Post-Round Reaction

"I feel pretty good about my position, just I played a lot better today than my score," Johnson said, per CBS Sports' Kyle Porter. "You know, I think that's about as high as I could have shot. I feel like everything in the game right now is good. So, I'm excited about the rest of this week and obviously looking forward to next week, too."

"I'm very excited. The game is in good shape all around," Johnson added, per the Associated Press (via GolfChannel.com). "Everything is working pretty well. Just a few poor swings today, but other than that, I made most of the putts."

Hoge, meanwhile, expressed his pleasure with Thursday's outing. 

"I don't know if it's the food or the water or what it is, but Memphis has been good to me," Hoge said, per the Associated Press (via Golf Channel). "Hopefully, I can keep it going."

Stats per PGATour.com.