The Barclays scores: Bo Van Pelt takes 1st round lead, Phil Mickelson uneven at Ridgewood

We’re off and running in the 2014 FedEx Cup, and Bo Van Pelt is your first round leader at The Barclays. The opener of the PGA Tour’s postseason is known for yielding some longshot contenders and winners, and Van Pelt started Thursday outside the top 100 and needing to make a move to get to the second leg in Boston. BVP is a veteran American player who’s popped up on the first page of leaderboards for several years now, but this has been an underwhelming season for the Oklahoman.

After a slew of rounds in the mid-60s at Ridgewood Country Club, Van Pelt was the first to get in the house and post a 6-under 65 on the suburban N.J. layout. Van Pelt went bogey free and was set to be on the first page of the leaderboard and inside the top 10, but then he pulled off a little wedge work on the par-5 17th green to shoot ahead of a contingent sitting at 5-under. This eagle chip-in would break what was going to be around a 9-way tie for the first round lead:

We’ve obviously got a long way to go, and Van Pelt hasn’t really been a model of consistency this year, but he’s now in better shape to get through to Boston next week. A win would obviously completely change the game and might shoot him from 104th position to first in the FedExCup standings.

Right behind BVP are eight others who posted 5-under 66, including Jim Furyk, Brendon Todd, and Hunter Mahan. Furyk is going to be one of the USA team’s hotter players at the Ryder Cup, while the latter two are trying to make a late push to become a captain’s pick after next week’s Deutsche Bank Championship. Todd was a completely unknown commodity on the Tour until this summer, but since his win at the Byron Nelson in mid-May, he’s got five top 10s in nine events and been one of the top American players in the world. But that form has been less impressive in recent events, including a 72nd place finish at the PGA. Given his inexperience, he’s got the most work to do to impress Watson and nudge out some of those bigger names up for consideration. A win or a couple top five results in the final two weeks could do that.

Mahan seemed to be a favorite of Watson’s when he was named Captain last year, but the Okie State product has not had a particularly great season. He’s the only player in this week’s field to play in every single (28 of 28) FedEx Cup event since the playoffs started in 2007. So he’s long been one of the elite players on the PGA Tour, and a regular on the Ryder Cup team. He’s just got a lot of work to do and it appears he won’t make it easy for Brandt Snedeker, Webb Simpson, and the other captain’s pick hopefuls. Mahan got out early on Thursday and did most of his work on Ridgewood’s back nine, rolling in four birdies in a five-hole stretch.

Most of the bigger names were out in the AM draw of the first round, including Rory McIlroy and Phil Mickelson. We already chronicled Rory’s struggles after a couple weeks celebrating and globetrotting, but Mickelson also had his own misadventures in Ridgewood’s brutally high rough.

Some of that wildness off the tee and a few missed putts resulted in a 1-over outward 36, but Phil cleaned it up a bit on the back nine to get in at even-par. He’s not in great shape to make it all the way to the Tour Championship, and maybe even the BMW Championship if he struggles over the next two weeks. We hadn’t seen much from Phil until that weekend run at Valhalla, but perhaps he gets hot again as he ramps up for the Ryder Cup before calling it a year.

Here’s your leaderboard after the opening round of the opening leg of the FedEx Cup: