Jackson Suber claimed the first round lead at The Open as Rory McIlroy endured a difficult start to his quest to win the Claret Jug for the first time in 12 years.
Competing in The Open for the first time in his career, Suber belied his Links golf inexperience with a superb five-under-par 65, giving him a one-shot lead over Sungjae Im and Daniel Brown.
His fortunes were in stark contrast to those of McIlroy, who is seven shots off the pace after a hugely disappointing day.
An error-strewn showing saw McIlroy card six bogeys en route to a two-over 72, the Northern Irishman consistently struggling around the greens and on the putting surface before a closing birdie at the 18th gave him some reason to smile.
McIlroy was far from the only big name to struggle. PGA champion Aaron Rai and Ludvig Aberg each finished one-over, as did Xander Schauffele, who made a six on the last to drop out of red figures.
The highly fancied Matt Fitzpatrick also finished two-over, one shot ahead of the last man to win The Open at Birkdale, 2017 champion Jordan Spieth, and reigning US Open champion Wyndham Clark. Justin Rose, who made his Open debut at Birkdale in 1998, finished five-over.
At the right end of the leaderboard, a group of nine players on three under features Robert MacIntyre, Bryson DeChambeau and Players Championship winner Cam Young.
World number one Scottie Scheffler finished two-under, with the defending champion and 2021 winner Collin Morikawa one stroke ahead of hometown hope Tommy Fleetwood and Jon Rahm.
Jackson unable to explain Suber Open start
Suber’s performance was even more remarkable given his first taste of Links golf came only a matter of days ago.
“This is my fifth day here,” Suber 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.”
Asked top explain how he managed to adapt to the challenge presented by the Southport course so quickly, he replied: “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.
“I think I watched a YouTube video on every hole at Birkdale on Friday last week or Thursday, but besides that, yeah, just – I have a stats guy that’s helped me, of course, so just knowing that the pot bunkers are no good and stay out of those.”
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