The Open Championship: He'd never been to Europe … now Jackson Suber leads at Royal Birkdale

We tune in to an Open Championship to see sideways rain and howling wind. But it turns out, sunny days can be just as treacherous … to certain players, anyway.  Just ask Rory McIlroy, who finished at +2 after struggling all afternoon at Royal Birkdale. 

But sometimes, the sun shines on both the course and your game. Consider Jackson Suber, who had never even been to Europe before this week, and now leads the Open Championship by a stroke. 

Suber had played just 27 holes of links golf before Thursday — his first holes coming during a practice round Monday at Royal Birkdale — and then proceeded to go out and post a 5-under mark.Playing in just his third major overall, Suber managed to conquer both the crisping greens and the devious rough in a way that no one else in the 156-player field could. 

Since he’s 26 years old, Suber prepared for the course by watching YouTube videos — you know, just like Jack and Arnie used to do — and found Birkdale fits his game. 

“I've been hitting the driver well, and I feel like I'm a good iron player,” he said. “Just a lot of long irons into these holes. I think that suits my eye. Then just chipping, I like chipping off tight, firm surfaces. Kind of feeling comfortable with that, I think, is important for me.”

He’d never even been to Europe before this week, but he’s also a man who knows his limitations. Although he spent time in Liverpool enjoying the English cafe life, he resisted another element of British life. 

“Try driving on the other side of the road?” a journalist asked him following his round.

“No,” Suber responded. 

“Why not?” the journalist continued. 

“Because I'm trying to make it here for four days.” 

Now that’s a man who has his priorities straight. 

David Cannon via Getty Images

One stroke behind Suber at -4 stood Sungjae Im and Dan Brown, who both posted their scores early in the day under relatively benign conditions. They took advantage, knowing that the trickier conditions may well lie ahead.

“I've had a good feeling about this course since the practice rounds,” Im said. “On some holes, you are forced to lay up with other clubs instead of hitting the driver, mostly because of where the bunkers are positioned. Since the club choices are basically set for you, it actually removes the risk and makes things feel much more comfortable. As long as you keep the ball on the fairway, the course doesn't play too difficult. That aspect really suits my style.”

“I think it's just a fair golf course. There's not too many humps and undulations in the fairway, so if you hit a good shot, generally it stays in the fairway, which I like,” Brown said. He also added a bit of fun to his press conference when he began to discuss, of all things, smoking. 

“My dad actually used to smoke, and I always told him when I was a kid to stop smoking,” he recalled, “and then he did stop and then I ended up starting.” Brown conceded that he fires up darts on the course even though he’s not technically allowed to do so. As for how many he smokes?

“I probably — sorry, mom. I'm probably on like seven or eight a round, I would say.” 

As the day wore on, though, the wind picked up, and the fairways and greens continued to bake, which made for some potentially treacherous conditions. “Off the tee it's really hard to get the ball to slow down,” Sepp Straka said. “Working the ball against the wind a lot out there, especially off the tees, because the fairways are really firm and really fast. It's easy to kind of run into some of those bunkers out there.”

Which is how you end up with ligament-stretching shot attempts like this from McIlroy on No. 17: 

He would go on to bogey that hole, the second par-5 on the back nine that he left with a bogey. McIlroy has won two Masters in the last two years, but all too often still drops into a mode where it seems he leaves stroke after stroke out on the course.

“Too many stupid mistakes,” McIlroy allowed. “But every time I made a stupid mistake, thankfully I made a birdie to sort of keep myself in it. Not too far away. Hopefully we'll get the better conditions (Friday) and maybe the greens are a little bit smoother in the morning. Go out there and shoot a good one and get myself right back in it for the weekend.”

McIlroy’s fellow titan fared somewhat better. Defending Open champion Scottie Scheffler started the day with a bang, briefly holding the lead at -4 before settling back to earth with a -2 round. 

“Anytime you can shoot under par to start a major championship, it's a good spot to be in. I got off to a hot start in the round today and wasn't able to make as many birdies as I would have hoped to down the stretch,” he said. “If I continue to strike the ball the way I did today and just keep giving myself looks, that's part of it. Golf is played over 72 holes, and I definitely liked what I saw today.”

The Open Championship continues on Friday morning starting at 1:35 a.m. Eastern time.