When Lev Grinberg and his father, Illya, stopped by my golf academy in Florida in 2023, Lev was 15 years old. He had already made a cut on the DP World Tour at 14 and had begun appearing in international events most junior golfers only get to watch.
What stayed with me was not the résumé.
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Lev listened. He asked questions. He carried himself with confidence, but he did not act as though his future had already been decided. His golf life was moving quickly, yet he never seemed in a hurry to tell anyone where it was going.
Thursday at Royal Birkdale, the setting finally caught up with his ambition.
Grinberg, now 18 and representing France after being born in Kyiv, opened his first major championship with a 1-over 71. He finished the first round tied for 60th, inside the top 70 and ties who will advance after 36 holes. He also became the first Ukrainian-born player to compete in The Open.
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The number put him in position to play the weekend. His explanation afterward suggested the round may carry further than Friday.
Royal Birkdale did not give Grinberg a perfect day. It gave him something a young player can use.
The Open Debut
Lev Grinberg at Royal Birkdale
The 18-year-old amateur kept himself in the championship with a resilient opening round.
71
Opening Score
+1
Relation to Par
T60
After Round 1
16-17
Closing Birdies
Round 2: Grinberg tees off Friday at 8:09 a.m. local time with Francesco Molinari and Tom McKibbin.
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Royal Birkdale Gave Him a Problem to Solve
SOUTHPORT, ENGLAND – JULY 16: AmateurLev Grinberg of Ukraine tees off on the first hole during Day One of the 154th Open Championship at Royal Birkdale on July 16, 2026, in Southport, England. (Photo by Kate McShane/R&A/R&A via Getty Images)
Grinberg’s opening drive finished in a fairway bunker, hardly an ideal introduction to major championship golf. He pitched out and saved par from roughly 100 yards, then made five more consecutive pars before a double bogey at the par-3 seventh.
He turned in 2 over and fell to 3 over after a bogey at the 11th. The score was beginning to separate from the quality of golf he believed he was playing.
“I told myself on 14, like, how am I plus three?” Grinberg said after the round. “I’m hitting it so good, and I’m playing so good.”
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The score finally began listening. Grinberg converted an 18-foot birdie putt at the 16th, birdied the par-5 17th and made par at the last to finish at 1 over.
When I asked what the closing stretch taught him, Grinberg did not linger on the two birdies. He spoke about what remained stable while the round moved in the wrong direction.
“The one thing I learned today is that, even at the biggest stage, my game doesn’t fail,” Grinberg told Athlon Sports. “My process doesn’t fail. My routines don’t fail.”
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That answer matters.
As a coach, I pay close attention to what young players name when they come through pressure. Some begin with the putt they made, the score they shot or the shot they wish they had back. Grinberg went directly to the part of his game that he can carry into the next round.
His ball-striking held up. His decision-making gave him chances to recover. Most importantly, he did not abandon his routines because a major championship had placed louder consequences around every shot.
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The useful rounds are rarely the ones that give a player everything he asks for. They are the rounds that push back hard enough to reveal what remains.
Inside the Round
What Royal Birkdale Taught Lev Grinberg
“Even at the biggest stage, my game doesn’t fail. My process doesn’t fail. My routines don’t fail.”
Trust the Routine
The size of the championship did not alter his preparation or pre-shot process.
Control the Damage
Elite players protect rounds by avoiding doubles and escaping trouble quickly.
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Play the Correct Zones
Molinari showed when to challenge a flag and when to accept a safer section of the course.
Stack the Rounds
Professional consistency often looks ordinary until the scores are added together.
The First Tee Reduced the Journey to One Shot
There was plenty Grinberg could have carried with him when his name was announced on the first tee.
He was born in Kyiv, discovered golf as a young boy in Ukraine and later continued his development in Belgium and France. He entered France’s national performance program at Le Golf National in 2023 and officially received French citizenship late last year.
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He was also entering the record book as the first Ukrainian-born golfer to play in The Open.
None of that was in his head when the starter called his name.
“There was nothing going on in my head except me and my routine, my backswing and my follow-through, and making sure to get that ball in the position where I planned with my caddie,” Grinberg said.
That is competitive maturity, not an absence of emotion.
A player can understand the weight of a moment without trying to carry every part of it into the swing. The history could wait. The tee shot still required a starting line, a clubface and a committed motion.
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Grinberg described the first tee as a small coliseum. The adrenaline was different from what he had experienced during his previous DP World Tour appearances, and so was the sense that people far beyond the property were watching.
“You don’t get those feelings if you play with your friends or you play a DP World Tour event,” Grinberg said. “It just means more.”
He expected his nerves to be heavier. Instead, the routine he had built in smaller events felt recognizable inside the largest environment of his career.
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Molinari Showed Him Where the Difference Lives
Grinberg received another useful education from the player beside him.
Francesco Molinari, the 2018 Champion Golfer of the Year, shot a 3-under 67 and finished the opening round two shots behind leader Jackson Suber. Grinberg watched Molinari navigate Birkdale without trying to overpower or impress it.
“The biggest thing I learned from those guys is they don’t do anything special,” Grinberg said. “They just don’t make mistakes.”
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On one tee, Molinari initially prepared to hit driver. He did not like the shot he saw, changed to a 2-iron and accepted that he would have a 4-iron remaining instead of a wedge.
The decision reduced the opportunity for trouble and increased the likelihood of par.
Grinberg noticed the zones Molinari played into, the hole locations he refused to challenge and the way his strategy changed with each new problem. Those observations are more valuable than trying to copy a swing or chase a particular shot shape.
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From outside professional golf, the separation often looks spectacular. It looks like speed, towering iron shots and putts falling from across the green.
Up close, the difference frequently looks quieter. A player refuses to invite a double bogey, accepts a longer approach or chooses the side of the green that allows the round to continue.
Grinberg also noticed how professionals accumulate scores without appearing to do anything extraordinary.
“You sign their card and say, ‘What did you shoot?’ Two under, three under,” he said. “The pros are very good at stacking up those rounds.”
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Grinberg believes the remaining gap between his game and the game played by the world’s best involves mental preparation, course management, scrambling and eliminating major mistakes.
At 18, he can already hit enough shots to recognize the difference. Thursday gave him the opportunity to study it from a few feet away.
Friday Asks for the Same Player, Not a Better One
Grinberg earned his place at Royal Birkdale by winning The Open Amateur Series, helped by his victory at the St Andrews Links Trophy and strong performances in The Amateur Championship and European Amateur Championship.
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He will begin his second round at 8:09 a.m. local time Friday alongside Molinari and Tom McKibbin. He starts the day tied for 60th and positioned to challenge for both a weekend place and The Open’s Silver Medal.
The next assignment does not require him to become a different player overnight.
He does not need to force a defining round, manufacture a moment for two countries or turn Thursday’s finish into a prediction about his career. Those are the narratives that naturally gather around a young player with an unusual story.
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His task is simpler to describe and harder to execute. Choose the correct target. Trust the routine. Accept the result. Start again.
Grinberg will begin attending the University of Arkansas next month, another large step in a career that has already taken him across countries, national teams and increasingly important tournaments.
When he visited my academy three years ago, it was easy to see the ability. Thursday supplied the first evidence of how that ability might respond when the surroundings became as demanding as golf can make them.
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His first major did not tell Grinberg that he had arrived. Golf rarely gives a young player anything that definitive.
It told him something more practical. The game and routines he trusted before Royal Birkdale were still there when the noise grew, the putts stopped falling and the score began moving away from him.
For an 18-year-old at the beginning of his major championship career, that may be the most useful thing he could have learned.
PGA of America Golf Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer who serves as Athlon Sports Senior Golf Writer. Read his recent “The Starter” on R.org, where he is their Lead Golf Writer. To stay updated on all of his latest work, sign up for his newsletter or visit his MuckRack Profile.
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Related: Jackson Suber Learns Fast and Leads The Open at Royal Birkdale
Related: 2026 Open Championship Guide: What to Know at Royal Birkdale
Related: Why The Open Championship Still Feels Like Golf’s Purest Test
This story was originally published by Athlon Sports on Jul 17, 2026, where it first appeared in the Golf section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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