SOUTHPORT, England (AP) 鈥� Jackson Suber was one of three dozen players under par at the when he made birdie and eagle in the blink of an eye and suddenly found himself atop the leaderboard at Royal Birkdale.
He had never played links golf until three days earlier. Not only is this his first appearance in the British Open, it’s his first time in Europe. He still won’t get behind the wheel on the right side of the car because he jokingly said, 鈥淚’m trying to make it here for four days.鈥�
The first day was brilliant, a 5-under 65 that gave the unheralded American a one-shot lead going into the second round.
Suber was initially holding his own Friday 鈥� a birdie on the second hole 鈥� before dropping three shots on another breezy day on the Birkdale links.
The surprise first round leader is No. 115 in the world, and he is No. 81 in the FedEx Cup on the PGA Tour with three top 10s this year, one of which was a tie for fourth in the Canadian Open that got him into the field at Royal Birkdale for his third major championship.
Where he goes from here is of interest. But this was not the first time that a leader at the British Open, or any major for that matter, has caused people to do a quick search for who he is.
Hennie Otto was No. 200 in the world at Royal St. George’s in 2003 when he opened with a 68. Andrew Landry was making his major championship debut at Oakmont for the 2016 U.S. Open and shot 66 to lead by one over Dustin Johnson, the eventual winner.
Two amateurs have shared the lead after one round of the British Open over the last 25 years, most recently Christo Lamprecht at Hoylake three years ago. Then there was Nick Job, never finished higher than 25th on the European Tour Order of Merit. He led after the first round in the 1981 British Open and held strong until a 75-74 weekend.
The links are new to Suber but he appears confident on this stage.
鈥淚 feel like I鈥檝e just been playing good the last few months,鈥� he said. 鈥淛ust knowing that good golf is going to take care of everything, and really trusting my caddie to figure out where we鈥檙e going to hit it.鈥�
Rory McIlroy was among the early starters after a 72 that featured six bogeys and far too many short putts he missed. He was seven shots behind. Defending champion Scottie Scheffler opened with a 68 and played in the afternoon.
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