By the time Jackson Suber’s first round was winding down in The Open Championship, the good vibes were building.
He rolled in a late eagle putt and that was enough to leave him with a one-stroke lead after a 5-under-par 65 on Thursday at Southport, England.
“I just felt like the momentum was really in my favor,” Suber said. “Just kind of kept the ball in good spots and didn’t put much pressure on my game to make pars.”
Suber’s eagle on No. 17 was set up by a splendid 4-iron shot into the green and allowed him to move ahead of England’s Dan Brown and South Korea’s Sungjae Im, who were the early clubhouse leaders with 66s at Royal Birkdale Golf Club.
Bryson DeChambeau rolled in a couple of late birdies to pull into a share of the lead before he bogeyed the last hole to finish with 67. Alex Smalley, Ryan Gerard, Pierceson Coody, Cameron Young, Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre, Italy’s Francesco Molinari, Belgium’s Thomas Detry and South Africa’s MJ Daffue also posted 67s.
Suber played the frontside in even par before four birdies and a bogey preceded the eagle across an eight-hole stretch. The 26-year-old has never won the PGA Tour, but he has collected three top-10 finishes this year — all since mid-May.
“This year I feel like I’ve been really coming into myself as a golfer and maturing and learning what works for me,” Suber said.
Defending champion and World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler ended up with 68 without a birdie on the final 12 holes.
DeChambeau and Scheffler were in the same grouping, with a shift coming on the par-5 17th. Scheffler took a bogey and DeChambeau secured his second birdie in a row to move into a tie atop the leaderboard.
“The wind was switching quite a bit,” DeChambeau said. “It was fun seeing the fans going at us, and they were rooting for all of us. It was fun just seeing the ups and downs of the group, but we all played pretty well.”
DeChambeau missed the cut at the first three majors of the year — never shooting a round better than 70 — and brought a full set of 3D-printed irons with him to Royal Birkdale.
“Besides 18, I placed the ball in some good areas,” DeChambeau said. “I just need to hit more fairways.”
Scheffler, whose streak of 78 made cuts ended last week at the Genesis Scottish Open, had a 4-under mark through six holes before a bogey on No. 7 followed by a string of pars.
“I felt like I could have gotten a little bit more out of it,” Scheffler said. “But if I continue to do what I did today with the ball-striking, I’ll be in a good spot as the week goes on.”
Brown’s up-and-down round included three bogeys, but the two that came on the back nine were followed by birdies on the next holes.
“A few putts dropped, which was nice to see because I’ve not seen that for a while,” Brown said.
Smalley fell out of the lead when he suffered a double-bogey 6 on the last hole. Smalley’s ball hit a spectator fence and bounced out of bounds on the 18th.
Smalley had birdies on four of the first five holes and then went to the top of the leaderboard with birdies on Nos. 14 and 15.
“Didn’t have a whole lot of stress until the last hole, obviously,” Smalley said. “Had a lot of birdie looks, didn’t have a whole lot of chips, which was good.”
Smalley, 29, is without a victory on the PGA Tour, though he has produced four top-10 finishes this year, including sharing a runner-up finish at the PGA Championship.
Most of the first round’s best scores came from golfers with tee times during the first half of the day. Notables in the afternoon wave included the first three major winners of the year — Northern Ireland star Rory McIlroy (72), Englishman Aaron Rai (71) and Wyndham Clark (73) — along with Collin Morikawa (68), Irishman Shane Lowry (69), Brooks Koepka (70), Xander Schauffele (71) and Australian Adam Scott (72).
“Hopefully, we’ll get the better conditions tomorrow and maybe the greens are a little bit smoother in the morning,” McIlroy said. “Go out there and shoot a good one and get myself right back in it for the weekend.”
–Field Level Media
