After taking last week off, the PGA Tour returned Thursday with Marc Leishman shooting a nine-under 62 to hold the first-round lead at the 2017 BMW Championship.Leishman has company behind him, as Jason Day, Jamie Lovemark and Charley Hoffman ended the round at seven-under. Jordan Spieth, Keegan Bradley, Rickie Fowler, Rafa Cabrera Bello and Tony Finau are tied for fourth at six-under after 18 holes.Here's the full leaderboard after Thursday's action from Lake Forest, Illinois:Leishman has been on a hot streak recently. He finished third at the Dell Technologies Championship two weeks ago, which included three rounds shooting under 70. His 62 on Thursday was his best single-round score since the 2015 Sony Open.The 33-year-old was on fire throughout the round, especially over the first 15 holes. He had 10 birdies and one bogey during that stretch, culminating with this terrific two-shot finish on No. 15:Leishman did give himself a small cushion to work with in the second round, but the competition behind him is coming up quickly.Day waited until the back nine to make his big run with five birdies down the stretch. He's been all over the place since the U.S. Open with two missed cuts, three finishes outside the top 20 and two top-10 showings at the PGA Championship and Northern Trust.Spieth is another player kicking his game up a notch as the season winds down. He has finished second in each of his previous two tournaments and is seeking his fourth win this year.Justin Ray of the Golf Channel noted Spieth has been a constant fixture in the top 10 over his last 25 rounds played:After carding a 65, Spieth told Jimmy Roberts of NBC Sports his putter was critical in his strong start:The stats confirm Spieth's assessment. He hit 66.7 percent of greens in regulation and gained 1.82 strokes putting, per PGATour.com.Phil Mickelson's late-season surge continues as he prepares for the Presidents Cup in two weeks. Lefty has broken 70 in five straight rounds and six of his last eight rounds overall.Per Ray, Mickelson's opening-round 65 is his best to start a tournament in 14 months:After starting the 2016 British Open with a 63, Mickelson would finish as the runner-up three shots behind Henrik Stenson. He enters this weekend ranked 36th in the FedEx Cup standings, leaving him just on the outside looking in for next week's Tour Championship with work to do to reach the top 30.Justin Thomas, who trails Spieth by 27 points atop the FedEx Cup standings and leads the PGA Tour with five wins this season, has a little more work cut out for him Friday. He was solid with a four-under 67 in the first round.The 10th hole looked like it was going to be trouble for Thomas when his tee shot hooked left into the rough, but he was able to salvage a birdie with a terrific second shot that landed right in front of the hole:Unfortunately, Thomas gave two shots back on No. 11 with a double bogey on the par three. It was the only blemish in his round, but it was enough to drop him five shots off the pace.Fowler had one of the best runs of the day. After starting birdie-bogey on the first two holes, he reeled off nine straight pars before catching fire with six straight birdies from No. 12 through 17.The last birdie on the 17th hole included some drama after his tee shot landed just shy of the green, setting him up for this chip shot to keep the streak going:With no shortage of low scores going around Thursday, the BMW Championship is going to be full of drama over the next three days.Leishman was able to set a strong tone out of the gate. He can't afford any kind of slipup Friday because the swarm of contenders right behind him won't hesitate to take over the top spot on a player-friendly course.
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