2023 Tour Championship leaderboard: Collin Morikawa rockets into three-way tie on top with career-best 61

Morikawa's incredible round pushed him into a tie with Keegan Bradley and Viktor Hovland ahead of Scottie Scheffler

The first round of the 2023 Tour Championship had enough twists and turns that it already looks quite different than when it started. Three different golfers caught and surpassed a surprisingly mediocre Scottie Scheffler, and after building an early lead based on all his work leading up to the Tour Championship, Scheffler now finds himself down one going into Friday's second round of the 2023 FedEx Cup Playoffs final.

Though the scores are close enough right now, it's still going to be extremely difficult for anyone to beat Scheffler on Sunday. Morikawa shot the best PGA Tour score of his career -- a 61 with an eagle -- and yet he's still just one up after 18 holes. What he did is completely unsustainable, and Scheffler is unlikely to lose two strokes to the field over the next three rounds.

Joining Morikawa (-10) on top are Keegan Bradley, who similarly impressed with a 63, and Viktor Hovland, who shot a 68. All three played bogey free golf as Scheffler made three bogeys and a triple on the day.

So, it's gotten a bit interesting for some of the presumed favorites. (We'll get to Rory McIlroy and his strange day in a moment). First, let's take at Thursday's first round for the leaders and what to expect the rest of the week.

Leader(s)

T1. Viktor Hovland, Keegan Bradley Collin Morikawa (-10)

Morikawa made 11 threes the round after Viktor Hovland made 12 to win the BMW Championship last Sunday. Take that into consideration if you're wondering whether to be excited about the Ryder Cup in a month. The two now co-lead a tournament that will award $18 million to its winner. The two-time major champion led the field from tee to green and on approach shots and he was top seven in the field in every other category. That's ... probably going to get it done.

The question now is whether Morikawa can get it done in a PGA Tour event for the first time since the 2021 Open Championship at Royal St. George's. He poke afterward about how -- even though his numbers this year have been good -- you don't win tournaments only by putting up good numbers.

"It's kind of surprising that my strokes gained is that good [this year]," said Morikawa. "It shows that I've been working on the right things. But it takes ... there's a skill that you just can't measure for winning. You ask the best winners in the history, there's a skill that you just can't tell someone how to win, you can't teach someone how to win, you got to learn how to win. It's still in there. I know it is. It's just having things go your way and being consistent like today, not giving away shots, not hitting the poor shot that might deter a round, not making a bogey or two here today."

Hovland is probably the guy to watch here given where he started (-8) and how much Morikawa (started seven back of Hovland) and Bradley (started five back of Hovland) must do over the course of 72 hole to remain in front. Last week's BMW Championship winner is in the driver's seat. 

One interesting sidebar here: Bradley is potentially playing for a spot on the U.S. Ryder Cup team. He's been vocal and adamant about making that happen, and now he has a pretty compelling opportunity. 

Other contenders

4. Scottie Scheffler (-9)
T5. Adam Schenk, Russell Henley (-8)
T7. Matt Fitzpatrick, Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy (-7)

It was a strange round for Scheffler. It looked early like he might run away from the rest of the field as he -- at one point -- built a five-stroke lead. But late bogeys and a disastrous triple at the tough par-3 15th bumped him from that top spot. 

What's kind of incredible: Even though he lost 1.5 strokes by hitting it in the water on the 15th alone, he was still in the top half of the field from tee to green and last in putting. The next three days are going to be extremely interesting on the putting front.

If -- and this is a big if -- he can not look at the actual leaderboard with starting strokes and simply focus on recovering the shots he lost Thursday over the next 54 holes, it's fair to suspect he will still probably win the tournament come Sunday.

Struggling Rory

Golf Channel's Todd Lewis reported before the round that McIlroy injured his back earlier in the week and had not played a practice round leading into the day. He hit balls for a bit on the range, but the result was not pretty. McIlroy, who has won the FedEx Cup three times in his career -- including in 2022 -- then stepped to the first tee and touched over 180 miles per hour ball speed with driver so it didn't seem like a massive problem.

However, he was clearly bothered by it throughout the day, often stopping to stretch it out, wincing and letting go of the club more often than a dialed-in Hideki Matsuyama. The result was a disappointing (albeit somewhat miraculous) 70. All in all, this was not a terrible result for McIlroy, who at times looked like he could have shot 80. He stays at 7 under, remains three back and is playing a golf course he rules. If he can get his back into a place where it feels normal, he's still very much in the mix.

Rick Gehman and Kyle Porter break down the first round of the Tour Championship at East Lake. It's storylines, scorecards and betting favorites from the finale of the FedEx Cup. Follow & listen to The First Cut on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

2023 Tour Championship updated odds, picks

• Scottie Scheffler: 3-1
• Viktor Hovland: 7/2
• Collin Morikawa: 11/2
• Rory McIlroy: 13/2
• Jon Rahm: 12-1
• Keegan Bradley: 14-1

I would sprinkle on both Scheffler and Hovland here. They are your two most likely winners, even if it does not feel great after 18 holes of play. Both have good perspective on the arc of a tournament, and neither will be rattled by being caught (and in Scheffler's case, surpassed) by hot rounds from Morikawa or Bradley. I believe one of Scheffler or Hovland will win the Tour Championship.

[Aug 24, 2023 at 3:17 pm ET · Kyle Porter]

Scheffler Rolling

He's already 3 under through six holes, six clear of everyone but Hovland (who he's five clear of) and probably en route to a victory. In other words, a show.

[Aug 24, 2023 at 2:18 pm ET · Kyle Porter]

Rory McIlroy Struggling

McIlroy is having some apparent back issues early and did not play a hole this week at East Lake. He's +1 through two holes and now five back of Scheffler at the top. Also, Collin Morikawa is tied with him at -6.