British Open 2016 Leaderboard: Updating Results and Standings for Thursday
The 2016 Open Championship is underway, and already the tournament is not what many have expected.
There are quite a few surprises on the leaderboard in the early going, including young stars who are looking for breakout performances and older veterans who are showing they still have it. Obviously, a lot can still happen over the next three days, but the course at Royal Troon has been unpredictable.
If you are just catching up on the action, here is a look at what you may have missed at the British Open.
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Early Storylines
Patrick Reed's Early Dominance
After finishing with a 67 in each of his final two rounds at the Scottish Open, Patrick Reed has kept up his momentum with an impressive start to the British Open.
The American shot a 66 to take the early lead, tying a course record in the process, according to ESPN's Jason Sobel:
Reed kicked off his run with an eagle on No. 3 and finished with a 31 on the front nine. Things got tougher on the back nine, but he survived with par to end up at five under for the round.
"It's one of those golf courses that allows you to get off to a good start, so that you can get cocky and too careless on the back nine," Reed said Thursday, per Ben Dirs of BBC Sport. "You have to stay humble."
A lot of players looked good in the first half of Day 1 before falling apart late. However, Reed's ability to remain steady helped him hold the lead through the first portion of tee times.
Big Three in Decent Shape
Jason Day, Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy are the biggest stars on tour, although they put forth different performances in Round 1.
McIlroy was easily the best early on, thanks in part to his pin-seeking approaches, as Michael Shamburger of The Big Lead showed:
This was one of three birdies in a row and four in a span of five holes on the front nine. As Reed warned, however, the back nine is more difficult. McIlroy learned that with a double bogey on No. 13 that contributed to his finishing just two under on the day.
Spieth was a bit wild on the day but was generally able to post reasonable scores. Three birdies and three bogeys meant he finished exactly at par.
Meanwhile, Day struggled early and had three bogeys on the front nine. He settled down a bit as the round progressed, but a bogey on 18 gave him a 73, two strokes over par.
Even though four strokes separate these three players, all of them have the talent to post low scores for the rest of the week. This means that all of them, even Day, remain in contention going into Friday.
Familiar Names Back in Play
Young golfers such as Justin Thomas and Soomin Lee have gotten off to good starts at Royal Troon, but perhaps the bigger story is the strong play of some veterans we haven't seen in a while.
Vijay Singh has just one top-10 finish at a major since 2007, yet the former No. 1 player in the world shot a 69 on the first day of the Open Championship.
Padraig Harrington is another player who is far removed from his glory days when he won this tournament in 2007 and 2008. However, an opening round of 70 has some believing he could contend this week, including Kieran Clark of GolfShake:
Steve Stricker, Jamie Donaldson and Phil Mickelson are some other over-40 players who have had early success on the course.
It won't be easy for any of them, excluding maybe Mickelson, to post four great rounds and earn a top-10 finish. However, experience counts for a lot in golf, and these veterans have the ability to surprise people.
Follow Rob Goldberg on Twitter for year-round sports analysis.
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