Memorial Tournament 2018: Hideki Matsuyama in 3-Way Tie for 1st After Thursday

Despite a loaded field at the Memorial Tournament, there are a few surprising names at the top of the leaderboard after Round 1.

Hideki Matsuyama, Joaquin Niemann and Abraham Ancer are leading the field after each shot a 65 on Thursday, good for seven strokes under par. Beau Hossler is one off the lead in fourth place.

The course at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio, wasn't playing easy though, with Tiger Woods (E), Justin Thomas (E) and Jordan Spieth (+3) among those finishing at even par or worse. 

Round 1 Leaderboard

T1. Hideki Matsuyama (-7)

T1. Abraham Ancer (-7)

T1. Joaquin Niemann (-7)

4. Beau Hossler (-6)

T5. Lucas Glover (-5)

T5. Jamie Lovemark (-5)

T5. Grayson Murray (-5)

T5. Kyle Stanley (-5)

T9. Jason Day (-4)

T9. Keegan Bradley (-4)

T9. Byeong Hun An (-4) 

T9. Patrick Cantlay (-4)

T9. Patrick Rodgers (-4)

T9. Wesley Bryan (-4)

T9. Ryan Armour (-4)

Full results at PGATour.com.

Niemann, who is the youngest golfer in the tournament at 19 years old, posted eight birdies and just one bogey, continuing an impressive start to his professional career, as Will Gray of Golf Channel noted:

This is especially impressive for someone who turned pro last month.

Meanwhile, he was just one of several surprise names near the top of the leaderboard in the early session. Bill Rabinowitz of the Columbus Dispatch noted the advantage from the morning conditions:

In the afternoon, Matsuyama stole the show with four straight birdies before an eagle on No. 17:

Still, the leaderboard lacked big names aside from Jason Day, who ended with a 68 thanks to four birdies in his first six holes.

Woods had an up-and-down first day, dropping as low as four over before finishing at even par. He helped himself with three straight birdies down the stretch, including on No. 6:

The 42-year-old noted his injured back was a bit of an issue during the round.

"I have days like that," he said, per Bob Harig of ESPN. "My back is fused. I'm going to have days where it's just tight. Unfortunately, today was one of those days, and that's all right. I don't have any pain, thank God. It's just tight. So, no biggie."

He remains in contention at even par along with Thomas, Rickie Fowler and Adam Scott. 

The tournament will continue Friday with tee times beginning at 7:20 a.m. ET.