Unheralded American Jackson Suber made light of having no links experience to hold the solo lead after day one of The 154th Open at Royal Birkdale.
Suber is this week competing on European soil for the first time after securing a debut at golf’s oldest championship by finishing tied fourth at the RBC Canadian Open on the PGA TOUR last month.
In just his third career Major Championship appearance, the World Number 115 surged to the summit in what were the tougher afternoon conditions at the sun-baked Southport venue with a five-under 65.
England’s Dan Brown and South Korea’s Sungjae Im, playing together in the benign morning conditions on day one, were then one shot off the lead.
Without a win on the PGA TOUR, Suber arrived in England on the back of three top tens in his last six starts.
After opening with four straight pars, he mixed two birdies with two bogeys in a topsy-turvy finish to his front nine to hit the turn at level par.
But his round sparked into life after the turn with back-to-back birdies at the tenth and 11th before cancelling out a bogey at the 13th with a birdie at the par five 14th.
Suber picked up another gain at the 16th, before producing an excellent second shot to set up a seven-foot eagle putt which he converted to hit the summit.
Jackson Suber currently leads The 154th Open at -5, thanks to shots like this one. pic.twitter.com/hXTgB8R5nz
— The Open (@TheOpen) July 16, 2026
"Things just really started going after the birdie on the tenth," he said. "I just felt like the momentum was really in my favour. Just kind of kept the ball in good spots and didn't put much pressure on my game to make pars.
"This is my fifth day here. Monday was my first round of links golf, so I've played 27 holes before I played the first round today. I've never been to Europe."
Asked what he put his immediate adjustment to the test posed by links golf, he added: "I'm not really sure, but I feel like I've just been playing good the last few months and just knowing that good golf is going to take care of everything, and really trusting my caddie to figure out where we're going to hit it."
Brown announced himself on the world stage at this event when he finished tied tenth after holding the first-round solo lead on debut at Royal Troon two years ago.
A dual DP World Tour and PGA TOUR member for the first time this season, the Englishman has missed his last four cuts and was treading water at one over through his opening seven holes but a run of three birdies around the turn quickly lifted him to two under.
He then mixed four birdies – including an up-and-down at the par five 17th which he credited as his highlight of the day – and two bogeys in a six-hole stretch from the 12th to card a 66.
"Very nice day," he said. "Tee to green, it's similar to how I've been playing recently.
"But today a few putts dropped, which was nice to see because I've not seen that for a while.
"I think it's just a fair golf course. There's not too many humps and undulations in the fairway, so if you hit a good shot, generally it stays in the fairway, which I like."
Two-time PGA TOUR winner Im missed the cut at last week’s co-sanctioned Genesis Scottish Open but has form at The Open having finished tied seventh at Troon.
He was level par for his front nine after one birdie and one bogey but produced four birdies in a flawless back nine, including gains at the 14th and 17th – the only par fives on the course.
There were then nine players two shots off the lead including 2018 Open champion Francesco Molinari, Scottish star Robert MacIntyre, two-time U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau, this year’s Players Championship winner Cameron Young and Belgian Thomas Detry.
Defending champion and World Number One Scottie Scheffler was four under through six holes but stalled and settled for a 68, while Rory McIlroy struggled on the greens as he opened with a 72.
Also finishing the day at two over was Royal Birkdale member Matthew Baldwin, who was given the honour of hitting the opening tee shot.
