The first round of the 2018 PGA Tour calendar year belonged to Marc Leishman.
The Australian carded a six-under 73 in the first round of the 2018 Tournament of Champions on Thursday, giving him a one-stroke lead over Brian Harman and Jhonattan Vegas. Si Woo Kim, Rickie Fowler and Dustin Johnson are tied for fourth at four-under.
T-2. Jhonattan Vegas (-5)
T-7. Patrick Cantlay (-3)
T-7. Hideki Matsuyama (-3)
Leishman shot eight birdies against two bogeys as part of a stellar round, playing solid irons and excellent putting to give himself a lead. He hit 83.3 percent of his greens in regulation and gained 1.5 strokes on the putting green.
Fowler and Johnson are the biggest names chasing Leishman.
Fowler played a near-flawless front nine, carding three birdies without a bogey before nearly undoing his whole round on Nos. 11 and 13. He missed a four-foot putt to bogey the 11th hole and then hit a series of ugly approaches on his way to a double on No. 13.
Fowler quickly righted the ship, however, hitting his approach inside three feet for an easy birdie on No. 14 and then hitting his third stroke within two feet on No. 15 for another birdie. He finished the day with a 22-foot eagle putt on the 18th to get into the clubhouse at four-under.
Johnson went three-under on par fives and one-under on all other holes Thursday. His strong 284.5-yard drive average atoned for some questionable accuracy off the tee and hitting only two-thirds of his greens in regulation.
Jordan Spieth, meanwhile, sits near the bottom of the leaderboard at two-over. He spent the entire afternoon struggling to find his speed with the putter, losing more than two strokes on the green. All four of his bogeys came following par misses of 12 or fewer feet.
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