2020 U.S. Open leaderboard breakdown: Justin Thomas, Patrick Reed put themselves in contention Thursday

Breaking down the top of the leaderboard through 18 holes at the 2020 U.S. Open

The top of the leaderboard through Round 1 of the 2020 U.S. Open is loaded with star power, as world No. 3 Justin Thomas leads the field through 18 holes and four of the golfers inside the top 10 of the Official World Golf Rankings -- Thomas, Patrick Reed, Rory McIlroy and Xander Schauffele -- all comprise part of the leaderboard's top 10 at Winged Foot.

Thomas fired an opening-round best 5-under par 65 to get his week started, playing a near-flawless first round with only one bogey and six birdies.

"It was a really, really solid round of golf," he said post-round. "It's one of the best rounds I've played in a while tee to green. There are a couple things here and there that definitely could have been better, but I made sure all of my misses were in the right spot, and that's what you have to do at a U.S. Open."

Reed, Thomas Pieters and Matthew Wolff are T2 through Round 1, trailing Thomas (-5) by just one stroke. McIlroy, Lee Westwood and Louis Oosthuizen are 3 under and T5.

It was a surprising day on the track comparative to expectations. Winged Foot quick greens and treacherous roughs were projected to give golfers fits this week, and talk of a winner with an over-par final-round score was widely discussed in the lead-up to Thursday. Yet 20 golfers are in the red as we head to Friday with the sport's stars taking advantage of the conditions and the set up.

"I hit the ball very well," McIlroy told Golf Channel recapping his own round. "I kept it in play, hit a lot of greens, hit a lot of fairways, did everything you have to do at a U.S. Open. I sort of walked off the golf course today a little disappointed; I felt like I could've went lower. But before starting out today if someone had given me a 67, I would have taken it."

CBS Sports was with you the entire way updating this story with everything that happened in Round 1. You can read that below after we break down the key names on the U.S. Open leaderboard through 18 holes.

1. Justin Thomas (-5): Playing with control and shaping your shots will be key this week, and that's exactly what Thomas did to take the lead through 18 holes. He finished T8 among the field in fairways hit and T7 in greens in regulation, converting some big opportunities with his putter when he needed. He went on a birdie-birdie-birdie run from holes 9-11 and finished with a 3 under 32 on the back.

T2. Patrick Reed (-4): Reed's day turned around in a hurry on the front nine. He double-bogeyed the par-4 5th hole, birdied the 6th then made the first of two hole-in-ones on the par-3 7th to get under par. From there, he played the final 11 holes at 3 under without a bogey.

T2. Matthew Wolff, Thomas Pieters (-4): After dropping his first stroke of the day on No. 10, Wolff rallied for a birdie streak from 11-13 to climb back into contention and into position as T2 through Round 1. He was crisp in his approach and solid around the greens, too, where he gained 1.45 strokes on the field. Pieters on the other hand struggled around the greens but gained strokes on the field off the tee in his approach. He finished his final nine with a bogey-free 2 under.

T5. Rory McIlroy, Lee Westwood and Louis Oosthuizen (-3): Rory led the field in greens hit in regulation -- at 83% -- and in strokes gained off the tee. He was particularly impressive on the par 3s as well, playing the four of them at a combined 3 under. It was a perfect mix of power and finesse for him as he had everything working, and while he said he felt he could have gone even lower, that blend of talent could help him win out this week if he continues firing on all cylinders.

T8. Xander Schauffele and five others (-2): Schauffele put together matching 34s on the back and front nine to get in the clubhouse with a 2-under par 68 on the day, T8 with Jason Kokrak, Brendon Todd, Harris English, Rafa Cabrera Bello and Joaquin Niemann. He was among the best in the field on Thursday on the green, gaining 2.7 strokes on the field with his putter.

T14. Bryson DeChambeau, Rickie Fowler, Jon Rahm and five others (-1): As he promised, DeChambeau was bombs away from the jump, and he finished in seventh among the field in strokes gained off the tee. Fowler was in control early and played well in his approach, hitting eight fairways and finishing top six in greens hit in regulation. Rahm, though, led the field in greens hit in regulation. He played a pretty clean 1-under round with some expected ups and downs to start before settling in. He carded just one bogey and 10 pars in his final 11.

T71. Tiger Woods, Dustin Johnson and 19 others (+3): What started as a fairly promising Round 1 -- a front nine score of 1 over and a birdie-birdie start to his back nine -- devolved pretty quickly into disaster for Tiger. He bogeyed 13, 14 and 17 and then double-bogeyed 18 after flubbing his approach, lamenting his finish post-round. D.J. was up and down throughout and rebounded from a double-bogey on No. 4 to play his final 14 at 1 over. The reigning FedEx Cup champion was T11 in driving distance but struggled with control, hitting only six of a possible 14 fairways.

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[Sep 17, 2020 at 6:30 pm ET · Kyle Porter]

Wolff has a chance to tie JT late here. I'm pretty impressed with his performance so far. I didn't think his short game would stand up on this course, but it definitely has so far.

[Sep 17, 2020 at 5:35 pm ET · Kyle Porter]

This board is just absolutely loaded and remains that way. No pretenders. OK, maybe a few pretenders, but I'm not going to reveal who they are.