WGC Bridgestone Invitational 2017: Thomas Pieters Takes Early 1-Stroke Lead

Thomas Pieters played a nearly flawless round of golf on Thursday at the World Golf Championship Bridgestone Invitational in Akron, Ohio, hitting five birdies and no bogeys en route to a 5-under 65.

That left him a stroke ahead of Russell Knox on the leaderboard and two strokes ahead of five other players, including Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy and Bubba Watson.

Pieters finished his day in style, closing with this birdie, per the PGA Tour:

He may have finished as the leader on the day, but Spieth stole the show, hitting several marvelous shots.

There was his ridiculous escape from the trees, which he broke down after his round:

And then there were his back-to-back 50-foot putts on Nos. 5 and 6:

Spieth may be trailing by two strokes—bogeys on Nos. 3 and 13 hurt him—but if he's making shots like the ones above, he'll be tough to beat.

McIlroy finds himself in the running as well, although his expectations are higher than simply hanging around the lead.

"Decent results right now aren’t good enough..." he told the PGA Tour. "I expect more of myself."

For McIlroy, the story on Thursday was his change in caddie after he ended his partnership of nine years with JP Fitzgerald and had Harry Diamond take his place for the time being, per BBC Sport.

McIlroy spoke about that change after the round:

"It was good, a little weird at the start. I'm taking a little bit more responsibility on myself and there were a couple of times where I probably should have hit another club, but that's on me, not anyone else.

"I'd much rather be frustrated at my own decision than someone else's. It's great to have my best mate on the bag and we're just having a good time. It was strange the first couple of holes but I stuck to it today and played pretty well. I guess it's the start of the next chapter in my career and we'll go from here."

Certainly, McIlroy played well enough to keep himself in the running on Thursday. Other players of note within striking distance included Dustin Johnson (-2), Adam Scott (-2), Zach Johnson (-1), Rickie Fowler (even) and Jason Day (+1).

But for Thursday, at least, the lead belong to Pieters.