Who is leading the 2023 BMW Championship after Round 1? Day 1 leaderboard explored

The first round of the BMW Championship has concluded and the great protagonist of the day was competitiveness. Two players tied for first place, six within one stroke of the leaders and more than half of the field playing for par or better, speaks to how hard everyone is battling at Olympia Fields.

Rory McIlroy and Brian Harman lead the BMW Championship after the first round, both with a score of 5-under 65. Several PGA Tour heavyweights follow closely behind.

McIlroy played his first round of the BMW Championship bogey-free with five birdies. This performance was in danger on the 17th hole, when his drive fell in the middle of a group of trees, but the Northern Irishman pulled out an ace from under his sleeve and got the birdie with a couple of unbelievable shots.

Harman, on the other hand, made six birdies and only one bogey. He achieved this excellent record despite not being as effective with the putter as other times, as he missed several putts within 20 feet.

Six players chase the leaders just one stroke behind, with several of them temporarily leading the competition.

Big name players such as Scottie Scheffler and Jon Rahm also started the tournament well. Scheffler is one of those stalking the leaders by just one stroke, while Rahm is T12 with a score of -2.

The main sensation of the last two weeks, Lucas Glover, could not go over par and is in T23.

BMW Championship leaderboard after day 1

Here is the BMW Championship leaderboard after the first round:

T1 Rory McIlroy -5

T1 Brian Harman -5

T3 Matt Fitzpatrick -4

T3 Sahith Theegala -4

T3 Chris Kirk -4

T3 Wyndham Clark -4

T3 Scottie Scheffler -4

T3 Rickie Fowler -4

T9 Cameron Young -3

T9 Corey Conners -3

T9 Collin Morikawa -3

T12 Jordan Spieth -2

T12 Sungjae Im -2

T12 Patrick Cantlay -2

T12 Max Homa -2

T12 Jon Rahm -2

T12 Harris English -2

T18 J.T. Poston -1

T18 Russell Henley -1

T18 Denny McCarthy -1

T18 Jason Day -1

T18 Viktor Hovland -1

T23 Adam Svensson E

T23 Byeong Hun An E

T23 Justin Rose E

T23 Lucas Glover E

T23 Tommy Fleetwood E

T23 Andrew Putnam E

T23 Tyrrell Hatton E

T30 Brendon Todd 1

T30 Sepp Straka 1

T30 Xander Schauffele 1

T30 Nick Taylor 1

T30 Hideki Matsuyama 1

T30 Tom Hoge 1

T30 Sam Burns 1

T30 Si Woo Kim 1

T30 Keegan Bradley 1

T30 Patrick Rodgers 1

T40 Adam Hadwin 2

T40 Adam Schenk 2

T40 Eric Cole 2

T40 Tom Kim 2

T40 Taylor Moore 2

T45 Emiliano Grillo 3

T45 Cameron Davis 3

T47 Lee Hodges 4

T47 Tony Finau 4

T49 Seamus Power 6

T49 Kurt Kitayama 6