AKRON, Ohio _ England's Ian Poulter is the leader after the completion of the opening round of the 2018 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational on Thursday at Firestone Country Club.
Poulter was part of the afternoon wave of golfers and compiled an 8-under-par 62, his lowest round on the PGA Tour. He narrowly missed out on matching the South Course record, which is 61 and has been accomplished twice by Tiger Woods and once each by Jose Maria Olazabal, Sergio Garcia and Hideki Matsuyama.
Americans Kyle Stanley and Rickie Fowler are tied for second with scores of 7-under-par 63. Stanley was atop the leaderboard following the morning wave of golfers who finished their 18 holes under the afternoon sun. Fowler played his round in the afternoon hours.
Poulter started on the back nine Thursday and shot a 30 with five birdies and four pars. He made a birdie on Nos. 10, 11, 14, 16 and 17.
On the front nine, Poulter made a birdie on Nos. 1, 2 and 6, and had six pars.
Stanley started his opening round on the back nine of the South Course with six birdies and three pars. He made a birdie on Nos. 11, 13, 14, 16, 17 and 18. Stanley was at 29 at the turn, and then compiled a 34 on the front nine with a birdie on Nos. 2 and 5, a bogey on No. 4 and six pars.
Fowler put together his round of 63 playing exclusively in the afternoon, shooting 31 on the front nine and 32 on the back nine. Fowler's round included seven birdies and 11 pars. He made birdie on Nos. 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, 15 and 18.
Americans Patrick Cantlay, Spain's Jon Rahm and Si Woo Kim of South Korea are tied for fourth with 6-under-par 64s.
American's Luke List, Kevin Na and Justin Thomas are tied for seventh at 5-under-par along with Australia's Jason Day and Marc Leishman, Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy and India's Anirban Lahiri.
Woods, an American and eight-time champion at Firestone, is in a group of seven golfers who are tied for 13th and are four shots off the pace. The other six men who shot 66 are American's Brooks Koepka, Patrick Reed and Phil Mickelson, England's Matthew Fitzpatrick and Tommy Fleetwood and China's Haotong Li.
Matsuyama, the defending champion who hails from Japan, made an eagle on No. 16, which is affectionately dubbed the "The Monster." Matsuyama finished his round with a 67 and is five shots behind Poulter.
