3 takeaways from Day 1 of the Tour Championship

Day 1 of the Tour Championship is in the books, and the field of 30 golfers gunning for East Lake's lucrative purse offered plenty of interesting storylines.

Here are three takeaways from Thursday's action.

Stanley couldn't miss

The leader after one round is none other than Kyle Stanley, who signed off on a 6-under 64. The two-time winner on Tour struck the ball flawlessly all day, and rarely missed his targets.

For his round, Stanley topped all competitors by hitting 11-of-14 (78.5 percent) fairways; ranked second in strokes gained approaching the green (2.509); and was third in hitting greens in regulation (77 percent). That's a recipe for a quality round.

All told, Thursday's performance vaulted Stanley up a projected 20 spots in the FedEx standings.

Spieth was good, but expect even better

Current FedEx Cup leader and World No. 2 Jordan Spieth didn't have an outstanding day, but still managed to put together a 3-under 67.

The 24-year-old was a tad erratic off the tee to start, hooking multiple drives into the rough. But Spieth managed to maintain his composure, and his ability to accurately approach the green kept his round together. That said, Spieth wasn't dropping the putts the golf world has become accustomed to seeing. If he makes the proper adjustments on the green like he did elsewhere, though, he could very well surge to the top of the leaderboard.

Spieth is still atop the FedEx points total, and sits in a tie for sixth in the tournament. The remainder of the top five in the Cup chase are below him in the standings at East Lake, so Spieth's chances of becoming the second player ever to win multiple FedEx titles are looking pretty good - even if he didn't.

Matsuyama has day to forget

Hideki Matsuyama started with a double-bogey on No. 1, and it didn't get better from there. The world No. 3 shot a front-nine 41, and finished the day with a 75 - good for 29th place.

No facet of Matsuyama's generally consistent game was working. The 25-year-old ranked 27th in strokes gained off the tee, 29th approaching the green, and 29th in putting.

Elsewhere, Matsuyama only hit a dreadful three fairways, and missed 50 percent of greens in regulation. It's not over yet, but it looks as though Matusyama's terrific season - which included seven top-10 finishes - will conclude on a sour note.

(Photos courtesy: Action Images)