Masters Leaderboard 2017: Updates on Golf's Top Scorers on Thursday

The 2017 Masters got off to a strange start, well before the first tee time even took place at Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia. 

The world's No. 1 golfer Dustin Johnson suffered a lower back injury in a freak accident after falling down the stairs in his rental home on Wednesday. Johnson, as far as we know, is still set to tee-off 2:03 p.m ET, and his trainer, Joey Diovisalvi, provided an update Thursday morning on his injury to Golf Digest: 

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We got him to the point where he got mobility. He was up and moving around and definitely going in the right direction. He was very much in an under-control point going to bed last night.

He was walking around, a lot more mobility, took a couple of practice swings slowly without a club ... He told us, 'I'm going to do everything I can to go out and play tomorrow. That basically is his attitude. He was playing with [his son] Tatum. Life sometimes happens. He's not angry or upset. I'd say more discouraged.

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With Johnson's status up in the air, every golfer in the competition will feel that a door has just been opened to take home the green jacket, and so far, some of the sport's best golfers have already taken advantage of Johnson's misfortune early Thursday morning.

Early Thursday Results

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Thomas Pieters, the 25-year-old Ryder Cup team member from Belgium, is taking full advantage of the course at Augusta National thus far, leading the pack through five holes with an impressive three-under-par.

Pieters is off to the best start he could hope for and will need to keep up this level of play as some of the favorites in the tournament have also found their stroke early and often. To no one's great surprise, Phil Mickelson is hitting the ball well.

So well, in fact, that he's already collected his first eagle of the tournament.

But not to be outdone by one of the sport's mainstays, the next generation of golf has already taken this year's Master's by storm. 

After hitting par on his first hole of the day, Rickie Fowler went on to collect two birdies and is hot on Pieters' tail for the top score through the first few rounds of Day 1.

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Jordan Spieth began later than his other top colleagues but is already looking to put last year's nightmare at the Master's behind him as he birdied on his second hole to move one-under in an effort to keep pace early. 

It's still far too early to say with confidence who will come out of Day 1 with the lead, but it appears that a new dark horse in Pieters could be a player to watch in this year's Master's, particularly if Johnson isn't able to take part in the competition or isn't 100 percent.