WGC-Bridgestone Invitational 2016: Thursday Leaderboard Scores and Highlights

The 2016 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational kicked off Thursday with William McGirt taking the 18-hole lead with a six-under-par 64.

McGirt has had an eventful June, earning his first career PGA Tour win at the Memorial Tournament. He rebounded nicely Thursday after missing the cut at the U.S. Open two weeks ago, holding a three-shot lead over three players, including Jimmy Walker and Jason Day.

Here's the leaderboard from Akron, Ohio, after the first day of golf:

The 37-year-old McGirt has been a professional since 2004. He has played in only two majors in his career, missing the cut both times, and sits at No. 46 in the Official World Golf Ranking.

Yet none of those things mattered Thursday, especially with his putter working so well. The PGA Tour captured his final shot of the day:

Not much went wrong for McGirt in the round: His driving accuracy was 57 percent, he hit 72 percent of his greens in regulation and he gained 1.68 strokes with his putter, per the World Golf Championships' official website.

Per ESPN.com's Jason Sobel, McGirt has an opportunity to do something only one other PGA Tour player has been able to do:

This has been a good month for underdogs in Ohio. The Cleveland Cavaliers won their first-ever NBA championship, and the Cleveland Indians entered play Thursday with a 12-game winning streak. 

McGirt will have to carry his momentum into July to keep the streak going, but he's off to a brilliant start. 

Day, at three under par, is looking up at McGirt. The world's top-ranked player continued his strong play with an opening-round 67, highlighted by a bogey-free back nine. 

Day, always a big hitter, brought out the big stick with a monster drive on the par-four fourth hole, via the PGA Tour:

The bad news is that Day couldn't complete that hole on a high note, finishing with his lone bogey of the day. Since shooting a 76 in the first round at the U.S. Open, he has gone seven under in his last 72 holes.

Coming off his win at the U.S. Open, Dustin Johnson got off to a solid start at one under par. His key to success, especially with three straight top-10 finishes coming into Thursday, has been getting off to strong starts.

On the list of great months, JR Berry of WLTX 19 gave props to Coastal Carolina University:

Johnson has kept the momentum going, though he has a lot of work ahead to start July on a high note. The 32-year-old has been terrific all season, so he will be a player to keep a close eye on. 

Sitting right above Johnson on the leaderboard is Jordan Spieth, who rebounded from a slow start to finish with four straight birdies that brought his score to two under par. 

Per Sobel, Spieth was having problems with his accuracy virtually all day yet still managed to put himself in contention:

While Spieth was in a constant battle with his driver and irons, his putter turned out to be a savior, as this shot on No. 9 shows, via the PGA Tour:

After a rough showing at the U.S. Open two weeks ago, including a final-round 75, Spieth needed a good start. He's been inconsistent in 2016, but there is still time for him to turn things around with the British Open and PGA Championship on the horizon.

Upon seeing Spieth's brilliant finish to the round, Fox Sports' Shane Bacon couldn't resist the urge to make a player comparison:

Further down the leaderboard, Round 1 was not rosy for Phil Mickelson. Lefty picked up right where he left off at the U.S. Open, starting the Bridgestone Invitational with a rough three-over-par score. 

This has been—pardon the pun—par for the course for Mickelson in 2016. He's had some tournaments where it looked like he was putting things together, but he has as many top-10 finishes as missed cuts (five).

McGirt's round was the clear outlier on the leaderboard, and he figures to come back to earth Friday, which will open the door for contenders such as Day, Spieth and Johnson. It's a crowded field already, and it wouldn't be a surprise if a player outside of the marquee stars vaults into the top spot.

This tournament has seen some low-score winners recently, with Rory McIlroy posting a 15-under-par total in 2014 and Shane Lowry finishing at 11 under par last year. The first 18 holes this year made it appear as though that trend will continue, but there is still a lot of golf to play over the next three days.

Post-Round Reaction

McGirt was not hitting the ball long off the tee, though he said after the round that the course plays better with accuracy, per Adam Schupak of Golfweek:

"

Because length is not everything out here. You have to drive it in the fairway. You have to drive it in the correct spots in the fairways to be able to attack pins. I love it because you can’t stand up there and just hit it as hard as you want, go find it and hack it on the green. It’s an old, traditional-style golf course, which I absolutely love.

"

The PGA Tour features many players who can drive the ball, but Spieth is not known for being a long driver—and he's done OK for himself. McGirt understands what he must do to win on this course, and he executed perfectly Thursday.

On the other side of the spectrum, though still successful, was Spieth. He looked like two completely different golfers before and after reaching the green, saying afterward it was a mental battle, per Sobel:

Golf is as much mental as it is physical, if not more so because there is so much time in between shots. Spieth has always shown the ability to compartmentalize, a trait that paid off again Thursday and left him in a spot to challenge for a title this weekend.