There is a surprise leader after the first round of the 2026 British Open. At five-under-par is Jackson Suber of Tampa, Florida.
Suber is currently ranked 115th in the world, and has only participated in two major championships in the past. He finished 73rd at the 2024 United States Open, and missed the cut at the 2026 United States Open. Suber qualified because of his impressive fourth place finish at the Canadian Open.
Suber’s fourth place finish at Osprey Valley was one of three top-six performances for him on the PGA Tour in 2026. He also finished fourth at the Byron Nelson and sixth at the John Deere Classic.
On Thursday at Royal Birkdale, Suber had one eagle, six birdies and three bogeys. Suber eagled the 17th hole, birdied the fifth, seventh, 10th, 11th, 14th and 16th holes, and bogeyed the sixth, eighth, and 13th holes. On the par five 17th hole, Suber had a 323 yard tee shot that landed in the semi rough. From there, he had a 231 yard approach shot on the green, and made an eagle putt of six feet and 11 inches.
There are two golfers tied for second place at -4. They are South Korea’s Sungjae Im and England’s Daniel Brown. There are nine golfers tied for fourth place at -3. They are Americans Bryson DeChambeau (the 2020 and 2024 United States Open winner), Alex Smalley, Ryan Gerard, Pierceson Coody and Cameron Young, South Africa’s MJ Daffue, Italy’s Francesco Molinari (2018 British Open champion), Belgium’s Thomas Detry, and Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre. There are 11 golfers tied for 13th place at -2 and three strokes back. They are Americans Scottie Scheffler (the 2022 and 2024 Masters winner, 2025 PGA Championship winner and 2025 British Open winner), Collin Morikawa (the 2020 PGA Championship winner and 2021 British Open winner), and Bud Cauley, Canada’s Nick Taylor, Sweden’s Henrik Stenson (the 2016 British Open winner), Sweden’s Joakim Lagergren, England’s Jordan Smith, France’s Victor Perez, Austria’s Sepp Straka, South Korea’s Si Woo Kim, and Japan’s Ryo Hisatsune.
