Suber leads after the first round of his first Ope...

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Associated Press

Jul 16, 2026, 04:58 PM ET

SOUTHPORT, England -- Jackson Suber got his first taste of links golf on his first trip to Europe when he arrived at Royal Birkdale. Three days later, he proved to be a quick study with a superb par save and a 6-foot eagle late in his first round for a 5-under 65 to lead the British Open.

Bryson DeChambeau might be getting the hang of this, too, no matter what three-time British Open champion Nick Faldo thinks about his strategy.

An opening round -- lasting some 15 hours -- included just about everything during a warm and breezy start. Five of the leading 12 players were playing The Open for the first time. Rory McIlroy missed three 4-foot putts in a four-hole span and had six bogeys in his round of 72. Scottie Scheffler opened with four birdies in six holes and didn't make another the rest of the way for a 68.

Most startling was Suber, a 26-year-old American who has yet to win anywhere since leaving Ole Miss and is playing in only his third major.

He made a tough par save on the new par-3 15th, which slopes off severely on both sides. He followed with a 6-foot birdie on the 16th, then choked up on a 4-iron from 233 yards and hit it to 6 feet for an eagle.

Not bad for his seventh round in any major, and first on a links course as tough as Birkdale.

"Just kind of kept the ball in good spots and didn't put much pressure on my game to make pars," Suber said.

He led by one shot over Sungjae Im and Daniel Brown of England. The nine players at 67 include four Open debutants -- Alex Smalley, Ryan Gerard, M.J. Daffue, and Pierceson Coody.

DeChambeau leaned on his strategy of often ripping driver to take the fearsome bunkers out of play for a 67 that left him two shots behind.

DeChambeau hit four fairways and missed three greens, though he was rarely in big trouble when he wasn't in the short grass.

He twice blasted tee shots over the trouble and close to the green at the par-4 second and the par-4 10th, the latter a blind shot. He made birdie on both. And while Jon Rahm was among those who said going long can lead to trouble at some point, the only two shots DeChambeau dropped came from his putting on the par-5 14th and chipping on the par-4 18th.

He was tied for the early lead until chipping to 8 feet and missing the putt on the back of the 18th.

He missed three birdie chances from around 10 feet or under, one of them on the redesigned, 321-yard fifth hole, when he drove it just over the green.

Cameron Young, who has had a quiet past two months after being one of the hottest players in the spring, also was at 67. He sits among the group that also includes Robert MacIntyre, Thomas Detry and 2018 Open champion Francesco Molinari.

Smalley, who took a two-shot lead into the final round at the PGA Championship, was leading until his drive on the 18th took a wild bounce right and out of bounds. He finished with a double bogey for a 67.

"Got up to where the ball was supposed to be and was told it hit a spectator fence and kicked another 15 yards right out of bounds. All three of us in our group actually hit it over there, and mine just got an unlucky break," Smalley said. "Poor tee shot, poor break. Sometimes that's how it goes."