Jackson Suber is leading the British Open after firing a five-under 65 in the tougher afternoon draw at Royal Birkdale. That’s a surprise to a lot of people. Perhaps it shouldn’t be.
Right now every outlet that publishes work online is rushing to tell you who he is and gobble up all those sweet, sweet search engine clicks. It’s always rinse and repeat when someone unexpected shoots their way to the top of the leaderboard at a major.
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Suber, who played his collegiate golf at Ole Miss, turned pro in 2022 and worked his way up with excellent play on the Korn Ferry Tour. He immediately showed that he could hang with the big boys by finishing sixth in his first PGA Tour event, the Sony Open. Another sixth-place finish at the Rocket Open and a solid 18th at the RBC Canadian would serve as the highlights for a rookie campaign where he struggled to make cuts (13 out of 27).
To this point, the sophomore year on Tour has been even better. Suber finished fourth at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson back in May and fourth again at the Canadian Open three weeks later, which opened up his opportunity to qualify for the British Open. Though he missed the cut at the U.S. Open, he played to 30th at the Travelers Championship and sixth at the John Deere Classic over his last two outings
So he’s been on a bit of a heater.
Can Jackson Suber win?
Now comes the attention. Even the more dedicated golf fans out there may not be too familiar with Suber’s story and his game. I suggest they buckle up. Just because it’s way to early to be making proclamations about a relatively unknown going wire-to-wire against an impossibly deep field doesn’t mean Suber isn’t capable of doing so.
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Even if reality suggests a more accomplished golfer—and scores more—are going to catch Suber and he’ll likely be immaterial to the Sunday drama, this is what golf is all about. The impossible dream of someone parlaying four good round into being remembered never gets old. If we can’t overreact to one day of play, what’s the point?
I will say that playing in the morning tomorrow, and the relatively lack of rain expected this weekend should help Suber quite a bit. An already crispy course is going to get even more fast and furious and this could have been the best chance for players to score.
Who is Jackson Suber? We’re about to find out.
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