Suber takes shock lead after closing eagle in Open first round
· Yahoo Sports
American Jackson Suber was the surprise leader of the Open during the first round at Royal Birkdale.
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The 26-year-old Florida native, whose full name is John Weatherington Suber III, shot a five-under-par 65 on Thursday.
He recorded six birdies, offset by three bogeys, before leapfrogging earlier clubhouse leaders Dan Brown and Sungjae Im with an eagle on the 17th.
It made for a highly impressive Open debut round for a player visiting Europe for the first time whose only links experience prior to teeing off had come in practice this week.
“I have been playing great and to see my hard work pay off is always nice,” said Suber.
“I hadn’t been to Europe until last Saturday. I played nine holes Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday – 27 holes of links golf in my life before today.
“I’m sure I’m pretty spoiled with links golf now. I don’t think it can get much better than this!”
Ranked 115th in the world – and with just 1,091 followers on X – Suber arrived on Merseyside completely unheralded having only secured his place when he tied for fourth at the RBC Canadian Open last month.
He turned professional in 2022 and spent two years largely on the Korn Ferry Tour before securing PGA Tour membership for 2025. He recorded three top-10 finishes last year and has secured three more this season.
In his only previous major appearances he finished 73rd at the US Open in 2024 and missed the cut at the same event last month.
Fellow Open debutant Pierceson Coody, grandson of 1971 Masters winner Charles Coody, was another unexpected US name near the top of the leaderboard after carding a 67.