WGC-Workday Championship 2021: Webb Simpson Tied for Lead After Round 1

The field couldn't be tighter at the World Golf Championships-Workday Championship in Bradenton, Florida.  

Webb Simpson and Matthew Fitzpatrick went into the clubhouse tied atop the leaderboard after each shooting a six-under 66 on Thursday, and four players (Brooks Koepka, Billy Horschel, Sergio Garcia and Kevin Kisner) sit just one stroke back. 

And six players, including Patrick Reed, Tony Finau and Jon Rahm, are just two strokes off the lead. 

Other notable finishers included Rory McIlroy (-3), Jason Day (-1), Adam Scott (even), Justin Thomas (+1), Matt Kuchar (+1), Dustin Johnson (+5) and Bubba Watson (+5). 

Fitzpatrick was virtually flawless on the day, finishing with six birdies and no bogeys while posting a 71.4 driving percentage, hitting 83.3 percent of greens in regulation and gaining 1.302 strokes putting, per PGATour.com. 

After his round, Fitzpatrick talked to reporters about his mentality Thursday:

"The big thing for me is you've really got to think about your approach, your approach shots. It's so complicated into some of them. Where the flags are, they're put in tight little areas and you've got to make sure you catch the right slopes to either get it close or just to the fat part of the green. That's what we did really well [Thursday] and got to do more of it the next three."

Simpson showed some signs of actually being human Thursday with one bogey, but his seven birdies easily overshadowed that. Like Fitzpatrick, he was pleased with his round:

"The course is fantastic. It's firm. I was hoping it would get firm and fast. It takes that lengthy scorecard down a little bit. Very pleased with the start. I worked on a couple things last week with putting alignment and with my driver and I saw good things from that [Thursday]. You always want to see it first round back, but it doesn't always happen that way, so I was happy to see like tough tee shots with trouble, really stepping up and making good swings. And made a lot of putts [Thursday], so that was a good feeling."

Fitzpatrick and Simpson were excellent Thursday. But a tight field behind them is gunning for their spot atop the leaderboard. It should be a fun weekend in Bradenton.