Jackson Suber takes first-round British Open lead despite limited links golf experience

SOUTHPORT, England — Surely you had Jackson Suber on your betting card as the first-round leader of the 154th British Open on Thursday at Royal Birkdale.No?Well, that’s your outright leader entering Friday’s second round after he posted a 5-under-par 65 on the browned-out, baked-out, scorched earth of Birkdale, where it hasn’t rained in ages with no moisture in the forecast for the rest of this week.Suber stands one shot ahead of Sungjai Im and England’s Daniel Brown, who shot 4-under 66s, and a long list of players at 3-under, including Cam Young, Bryson DeChambeau, Ryan Gerard, Robert McIntyre and Francesco Molinari.World No.1 Scottie Scheffler, who has struggled with some opening rounds this year, is in good position at 2-under.Meanwhile, some of the pre-tournament favorites struggled, including Rory McIlroy, who shot 2-over 72 and Matt Fitzpatrick (72).Suber jump-started his round on the back nine after shooting an even-par 34 on the front.

He birdied Nos.10, 11, 14 and 16 and eagled the par-5 17th to close in 31.“Things just really started going after the birdie on 10,’’ Suber said.

“I just felt like the momentum was really in my favor.Just kind of kept the ball in good spots and didn’t put much pressure on my game to make pars.’’Suber, 26 and in his second year on the PGA Tour, came to the tournament having never played a round of links golf in his life.“This is my fifth day here,’’ he said.

“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.’’Suber, who’d played in only two major championships before this week (a 73rd-place finish in 2024 as an amateur and a missed cut last month at Shinnecock), said he watched a YouTube video of every hole at Birkdale last week to prepare.He called his European experience so far “awesome,’’ saying, “The golf is really cool and just the towns, how the train system works.

We went into Liverpool t...