An American took the first-round lead at The 154th Open, but it wasn’t a major champion such as Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffle, Wyndham Clark or Collin Morikawa who got off to a fast start, it was world no.122 Jackson Suber, who marked his first ever trip to England to lead field at Royal Birkdale after day one thanks to a superb five-under-par 65.
The 26-year-old from Florida, who had never played a links course before this week, went out in a very unremarkable level-par 34, making two birdies and two bogeys, but he caught fire on the back nine with birdies at 10, 11, 14 and 16, and then surged to the top of the leaderboard with an eagle at the par-5 17th to become only the fourth Open debutant to lead after the first round.
On a day when the early starters had the best of the conditions, with the wind picking up gradually over the course of the afternoon, the leaderboard was headed by England’s Dan Brown and Sungjae Im from South Korea for several hours after both players shot four-under 66s after getting back in the clubhouse before lunchtime.
On another warm day, Bob MacIntyre is part of a congested chasing pack following an opening 67, a score which was matched by Bryson De Chambeau, Cameron Young, Thomas Detry, Francesco Molinari, Alex Smalley, Ryan Gerard and MJ Daffue.
With the semi-rough burnt to a crisp, players were barely punished for missing the fairways, with DeChambeau able to shoot under par despite only hitting four fairways. Hitting driver whenever he could, the two-time US Open champion birdied the first two holes, and added three more at 10, 16 and 17 to defy his critics and put himself in the mix.
SCOTTIE IN CONTENTION, RORY STRUGGLES ON THE GREENS
Defending champion Scottie Scheffler signed for a two-under 68, despite being four under after six holes, while Rory McIlroy had a suffered a bad day on the greens to register a two-over 72. The reigning Masters champion missed three putts inside four feet as he struggled to read the breaks on Birkdale’s unevenly-paced greens, some of which had got a little crusty as the afternoon wore on under the blazing summer sun.
“The two bogeys on the par-fives weren’t great and I struggled the first two holes to get the speed of the greens,” said the 2014 Open champion, who felt he drove the ball well after driving the green of the 415-yard ninth hole. “I felt like they were very inconsistent, just because some parts of the greens are still alive and growing and other parts are really dead.
“I felt like I got it going a little bit, but just too many stupid mistakes. But every time I made a stupid mistake, thankfully I made a birdie to sort of keep myself in it. I’m not too far away. Hopefully we’ll get the better conditions tomorrow and maybe the greens will be a little bit smoother in the morning.”
Each of the past 26 Open champions have been within five shots of the lead after round one, but McIlroy believes he can work his way back into contention when he tees off on Friday at 10.09am.
“If you look at the discrepancy between the scoring this morning and the scoring this afternoon, it looks like that’s going to be flipped tomorrow with the conditions,” he added. “Hopefully I can take advantage of the more benign conditions in the morning and shoot under par and get back in it.”
Hometown hero Tommy Fleetwood, who was clapped on to every tee and green like a champion in waiting, shot a one-under 69, despite admitting to not even having his ‘B game’ to sit in among a group of 34 players who posted under-par scores on day one.
Those pre-tournament favourite with work to do on Friday include Matt Fitzpatrick, who shot a 72, while Justin Rose was among those to struggle after a five-over 75 left him with plenty of work to do with make the cut.
Padraig Harrington, winner of the 137th Open Championship at Birkdale in 2008, props up the scoreboard after round one after shooting a 10-over 80, with the 54-year-old reigning US Senior Open champion double bogeying the first hole and failing to make a single birdie during a tough afternoon on the links.
With changeable winds and unbroken sunshine predicted for the rest of the week, conditions are set to get firmer and faster, so it will be fascinating to see whether those who take braver lines and bolder plays off the tee will fare better than those who adopt a more conservative approach and stay out of the penal bunkers.
For all the scores, visit www.theopen.com/leaderboard
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