ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- Overnight leaders Webb Simpson and Zack Miller have both seen their names drop from the top of the leaderboard. Simpson remains at 7 under and doesn’t take the course at Sea Island until 12:30 p.m. while Miller is 3 over through 11, dropping to 4 under for the week. Now atop the leaderboard is 2010 q-school graduate and PGA TOUR rookie Michael Thompson. The 2010 Hooters Tour Player of the Year entered the day at 5 under and completed the back nine, his opening nine, in 2-under 33. He’s added two birdies through six holes to sit atop the leaderboard at 9 under. One off the pace is 2010 British Open Champion Louis Oosthuizen, another rookie on TOUR. Oosthuizen started on the front nine and got to 6 under for the week with a 34. Moments ago, he made a 5-foot eagle putt on the par-5 15th at Sea Island to reach 8 under, just one shot behind Thompson.

By Chris Dunham, PGATOUR.COM ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- Here are some odds and ends from the first day at Sea Island: NOT-SO-HAPPY RETURN: Seven of the top eight from last year’s final leaderboard are back at Sea Island for the second year of this event. Charles Howell III is the only one in red numbers at 1 under. Defending champion Heath Slocum is even, along with Robert Allenby, who tied for third last year. The one player missing from the group? Bill Haas, who is doing all right with his TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola and FedExCup trophies. FEATURED GROUP UPDATE: None of the members of our Featured Group were able to take advantage of early conditions at Sea Island. The trio of St. Simons Island residents managed a combined total of even in Round 1. Heading the group with his son Dru on the bag was tournament host Davis Love III with a 1-under 69. Zach Johnson came in at 70 while Brandt Snedeker double bogeyed No. 9 for a 71. ROUGH DAY FOR RICKIE: Fresh of his first professional victory in Korea, Rickie Fowler opened play with a 3-over 73 at Sea Island. The reigning Rookie of the Year, still in search of his first TOUR victory, mustered just one birdie and hit just 11 greens in regulation. Currently tied for 117th, Fowler will need a strong second round to make it to the weekend. CLASS REUNION: Is one year too soon for a class reunion? Not if you’re the q-school class of 2010. The 29-man class has 22 players in the field this week. Half of them are ranked T26 or better with five inside the top 10. Zack Miller, who is tied for the lead at 7 under, highlights the group. But Billy Horschel (-6), Cameron Tringale (-5), Michael Thompson (-5) and Richard S. Johnson (-5) are right on his heels. If the cut were to happen today, 15 of the 2010 graduates would make it to the weekend.

By Chris Dunham, PGATOUR.COM ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- Golfers are often pleased when they play well and post a good number. But how often are they genuinely surprised by it? After missing his last seven cuts (six on the PGA TOUR, one on the Nationwide Tour), 2010 q-school graduate Zack Miller surprised himself by firing a bogey-free 63 in the first round of the McGladrey Classic. He joins Webb Simpson atop the leaderboard after 18 holes. “I don't really know where this came from,” Miller said. “Coming into this event, I had missed my last seven cuts, and I had -- I think I had five birdies and an eagle with no bogeys. I mean, really no expectations. I came in just trying to draw all the positives I can, what's happened the last seven tournaments for me. It's just a great turnout for me.” Miller, battling to retain his TOUR card at No. 146 on the money list, opened with three pars on the back nine before knocking a 156-yard approach from the right rough inside 1 foot on the par-4 13th. That birdie started a 5-under run over four holes that gave Miller a world of confidence. He carried that momentum to the front nine, and knew just where he stood when he caught Simpson at 7 under with a birdie on the par-4 5th. “I had a really nice start to the year where I saw my name on the leaderboard often, and I kind of lost that,” Miller said. “I kind of just wanted to say, hey, look, I'm on the leaderboard, that's a really cool, positive thing. I haven't experienced that in the last two months, and so I was just sort of like, ‘hey, that's really cool, I'm going to keep looking at it because it just made me feel good.’” Miller’s positive outlook helped him maintain that share of the lead down the stretch. He had to scramble and bury a 4-footer for par on the next hole, and his par putts on the last three holes were all longer than 3 feet from the cup, with the longest a 6-footer on No. 8. “I think it's so important to keep making your 3- or 4-footers, getting easy up and downs just to keep momentum going,” Miller said. “Who's to say? If I had missed that putt or didn't get that up and down, momentum would have stopped for me... I didn't really have any tap ins coming down the stretch. Every putt was pretty stressful.” Miller’s 63 was his career best round on the PGA TOUR and just the second sub-70 round he’s posted since July. “It's the first round, but for me, I haven't broken 3 under or 2 under in a while in a round just because I've been struggling,” he said. “It felt like I was coming down the stretch just because I was in I was playing great, and I knew it was something I hadn't done in a while.”

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- The first round of play has concluded at Sea Island with Webb Simpson and Zack Miller tied atop the leaderbaord at 7 under. Simpson, looking to overtake Luke Donald atop the PGA TOUR money list, took the lead after the morning wave. Miller, a 2010 q-school graduate and TOUR rookie, caught him after 14 holes and pared his final four to claim a share of the overnight lead. The lead looked as though it would be divided three ways until the waining moments of the round. Martin Piller, playing the day’s next-to-last group, suffered a bogey on the 18th hole to drop to 6 under, one off the pace. Piller joins Scott McCarron and Billy Horschel on that number. At day’s end, 77 of the 132 players in the field were under par. Graeme McDowell, Matt Kuchar, Bo Van Pelt and defending champion Heath Slocum are among the players at even.

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- Zack Miller just rolled in a 30-foot putt on the par-4 5th hole to reach 7 under and tie Webb Simpson for the lead at the McGladrey Classic. Miller, who pared his first three holes before going birdie-birdie-eagle-birdie, has added birdies at Nos. 2 and 5 to reach the 7 under mark. The 26-year-old rookie, currently 146th on the money list, has missed his last six cuts (dating back to late July) before this week’s event. Click here to track Miller on his final four holes. Also making a splash late was Cameron Tringale. After making the turn at 2 under, Tringale posted four birdies on the front nine to get within one shot of the lead. He gave one shot back on No. 9, however, and closed his round at 5 under.

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- Zack Miller played the back nine in 5-under 30 at Sea Island and is just two shots behind leader Webb Simpson with nine holes to play in his opening round of the McGladrey Classic. Miller, a rookie on TOUR this year, checks in at No. 146 on the money list. He’s less than $200,000 shy of the top 125. The leaderboard is beginning to shape up like a one-year reunion of the q-school class of 2010. Miller is one of six members of that class who are currently tied for ninth or better in Georgia. Billy Horschel (T2), Richard S. Johnson (T4) and Paul Stankowski (T9) have posted rounds of 64, 65 and 66 respectively on the par-70 layout. Still on the course are Miller, Michael Thompson (-4) and Andres Gonzales (-4).

FEDEXCUP: Standings | Inside the FedExCup | Bubble watch | Movers | Weekly Leaders | More FedExCup By Chris Dunham, PGATOUR.COM

IN POSITION: Two players in the field this week at the RBC Canadian Open have an opportunity to move atop the FedExCup standings with a victory. Luke Donald (currently 6th) and Matt Kuchar (No. 8) are both within striking distance of FedExCup leader Nick Watney.

NEEDING A MOVE: Of the 31 players ranked between 110th and 140th in the FedExCup standings, 20 will be playing this week at Shaughnessy. Spots in the top 125 will be there for the taking with four players ranked between 121st and 125th not playing this week. Stephen Ames, playing in his homeland, 2010 regular season points leader Ernie Els and 126th-ranked Steven Bowditch are among those within 75 points of the top 125 with a chance to move up this week. More on the Playoffs bubble

CROSSING THE LINE: There was just one change to the top 125 last week. George McNeill, who tied for 2nd at the Viking Classic, moved from 132nd to 92nd. Falling back was Zack Miller, who dropped from 124th to 127th.

WHO’S UP, WHO’S DOWN? McNeill’s 40 position leap was the second biggest of the week but 10 spots shy of the 50-position move from Tom Pernice Jr., who went from 212th to 50th after a T2 at Annandale. Anthony Kim moved inside the top 100, to 85th, after a top 10 at the British Open. Camilo Villegas, down seven spots to 114th, is among the players who fell furthest last week. More movers

NEW ARRIVALS: Nine players earned their first FedExCup points of 2011 last week during the dual tournaments at Royal St. George’s and Annandale. Tom Watson posted a T22 finish at the British Open and debuts at 214th in the FedExCup standings while Peter Lonard tied for 9th at the Viking Classic to reach 221st.

A YEAR OF CHANGE: If the season were to end today, two of the 30 players in last year’s TOUR Championship (Paul Casey and Ernie Els) would miss out on the Playoffs altogether. Interestingly, Els and Casey will be playing in the same group during Rounds 1 and 2 this week. A total of 34 of the top 125 in the FedExCup standings were not in the Playoffs a year ago, highlighted by former leader and current No. 7 Mark Wilson, who has won twice in 2011.

MORE ON LAST WEEK’S WINNER: Chris Kirk became the fifth rookie to win on TOUR in 2011 with his victory at the Viking Classic. Kirk, who was the No. 2 graduate on the Nationwide Tour last year, is currently second in the Rookie Rankings behind Masters champion Charl Schwartzel. Kirk has four top 10s on the year including his win and a tie for second behind Phil Mickelson at the Shell Houston Open.