2020 Northern Trust leaderboard, takeaways: Harris English among leaders after Round 1 from TPC Boston

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All the stars were present at TPC Boston in the first round of The Northern Trust on Thursday, but not all of them showed out. While none of the big names in the field played particularly poorly, none of them truly popped on a day when the course was gettable. The co-lead after Round 1 is shared by three players who are ranked outside the top 40 in the world but all shot 64s to open the first FedEx Cup Playoffs event.

Let's take a closer look at their performances as well as the rest of the big names around this leaderboard.

T1. Kevin Streelman, Harris English, Cameron Davis,Β Russell HenleyΒ (-7) -- This performance from English is unsurprising if you've been paying attention for the past few months. English has five straight top 25s and can absolutely hang with the best ball-strikers in the world. He finished second in this elite field (to Streelman) in iron play and shot a 31 on the harder side of the course (the back nine). I love an early bet on him winning later this weekend. Davis made the biggest FedEx Cup leap in Round 1 as he went from 91st to sixth on the projected board. That's going from being out of the playoffs to well inside the Tour Championship cut line in 18 holes. We'll see if it can last.Β 

T4. Louis Oosthuizen, Bubba Watson, Kevin Kisner, Charley Hoffman, Scott Piercy, Sebastian Munoz, Matthew Wolff (-6) -- Munoz caught fire on the front side of his round by making birdie at the first seven (!) holes before evening out the rest of the way. He came in with exactly zero top 10s in 2020. One thing to keep an eye on here is how well King Louis plays at TPC Boston. He could be a problem come the weekend.

T11. Adam Scott, Tommy Fleetwood, Ian Poulter, Daniel Berger, Charles Howell III, Talor Gooch, Robby Shelton, Danny Lee (-5) -- Berger is another guy who, if you've been paying attention, you should not be surprised by. He's top 10 in the FedEx Cup coming in and playing maybe the best stretch of golf of his entire life. Some of the putting numbers seem unsustainable, and yet -- much like Jason Day a few years ago -- he's sustained them. He's also seeing upward trends in every other part of his game. No surprises at all if he's contending, not only at the end of this week but at the Tour Championship for $15 million as well.

T20. Dustin Johnson (-4) -- D.J. had the worst great round in the field. He went out in 30 on the harder side of the course and came home in 1 over on the easy side. This sort of sums up his career as well. The way he put his round together was bonkers, too. He was nearly last in the field in both driving and putting and still shot 67. Given how his season has gone (and this day went), I have absolutely no idea what to expect Friday-Sunday.Β 

T30. Tiger Woods, Justin Thomas (-3) -- I watched most of Thomas' round on Thursday, and boy was it a master class in "how to win a tournament on a Thursday." He shot the best 3-under 68 I've ever seen after letting his short game buoy his tee-to-green play for a first nine that was mostly garbage but somehow ended with him at 1 under. This is what happens when you don't have holes in your game. Tiger's 68 was more traditional, and he struck his irons beautifully all day despite not driving it that well. He'll need to get that part of his game on track over the next few days, but it does seem like everything is moving in the right direction.Β 

T49. Jon Rahm, Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy (-2) -- Not much notable here other than the names. Rahm hit his irons poorly, and Spieth did his usual "16 birdies, eight bogeys and two triples in a 18-hole round" thing. Rory is the one to watch come Friday afternoon.

T112. Phil Mickelson (+3) -- Lefty's streak of having made every single round-of-70 FedEx Cup Playoffs event (the penultimate tournament of the year) needs a real shot in the arm on Friday or it will end.

CBS Sports was with you the entire way updating this story with the latest scores, updates and highlights below. Check out the live scores at the top of this story, a more detailedΒ leaderboardΒ and our complete viewer's guide.

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Update: Cameron Davis is also -7 and started on the back nine so he is also the co-strokes-gained leader.

August 20, 2020, 8:55 PM
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Whooooaaa, Tommy Fleetwood is -7 thru 13 and easily the strokes-gained leader right now considering he started on the back nine on the course.

August 20, 2020, 8:54 PM
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Tough day for Bryson so far, and he may be playing his way out of things with how many great players are currently ahead of him.

August 20, 2020, 8:43 PM
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How about Sebastian Munoz hanging on here. He's been really good all day today and just made his first birdie on the back nine. Tied for the lead with Harris English.

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Interesting note on the broadcast that Phil is the only player to make the final 70 in every season of the playoffs. He's currently on the outside looking in.

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Sebastian Munoz just doubled the 9th to shoot 31 on the front nine. That is something I've also done, albeit at a par-3 course the other day. But still.

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