SOUTHPORT, England – Jackson Suber had never been to Europe until five days ago. So, of course, he went out and shot 5-under 65 at Royal Birkdale Golf Club on Thursday in his first competitive round of links golf to grab the first-round lead of the 154th Open Championship.
How does Suber explain managing to pull that off? “I feel like I’ve just been playing good the last few months and just knowing that good golf is going to take care of everything,” he said, “and really trusting my caddie to figure out where we’re going to hit it.”
Suber, 26, earned his way into the field at Royal Birkdale with his T-4 finish at the RBC Canadian Open last month. He’s put himself into contention this season on several occasions, including at the Texas Children’s Houston Open, the Canadian, the Byron Nelson CJ Cup and most recently the John Deere Classic, but he’s still seeking his first victory.
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For his first trip to Europe, he said he went exploring in Liverpool with his fiancée and fellow Tour pro Pierceson Coody and his wife. He took the train but has avoided driving on the other side of the road. When asked why, he said, “Because I’m trying to make it here for four days.”
Suber studied up on Birkdale by viewing the “Every Hole at Birkdale” feature on YouTube, listening to his data analytics expert, Hunter Stewart, who mapped out a personal game plan and trusting his caddie who has walked the course extensively. Suber played his first round of links golf on Monday and had logged all of 27 holes playing on the bouncy, brown turf between some of England’s largest sand dunes.
Suber credited two equipment changes for lifting his game of late.
Jackson Subertees off on the first hole on day one of the The 154th Open Championship at Royal Birkdale.
“I switched from the left dot Pro V1, it’s a pretty old ball, to just the new standard Pro V1, and that’s been great. It’s just been more consistent and giving me more distance, more control, it’s just been all around good,” he said.
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He also inserted a Titleist GTS3 driver in the bag, which has added length and consistency. The result is a new-found confidence in his big stick. He previously had been using the Titleist TSR, a four-year-old model.
“I’ve been hitting it well off the tee and definitely attribute some of that success to that,” he said. “I started driving it really well, which was never my strength. Then working with one of my old college coaches on my mental game and that’s really helped, too.”
Suber traded two birdies and two bogeys on the front nine before heating up with a birdie at No. 10.
“I just felt like the momentum was really in my favor,” said Suber, who added a birdie at 11 too. He bogeyed the difficult 13th but got it back with a birdie at 14 and tacked another circle on the card at 16 before getting the big bird at the par-5 17th to leapfrog into first.
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“Hit a 4-iron. Choked up pretty far on it almost to the shaft. Ball was way above my feet, but got it over that bunker and in that collection area and got a good bounce up on to the green,” said Suber, who rolled in the 8-foot putt.
Not too shabby for his first time playing links golf. Considering how quickly he figured out how to play Royal Birkdale, he should have no problem at all figuring out wedding plans.
“We know we probably want it in Florida, but we’re both pretty busy,” he said. “She’s an attorney. So, with golf and her job, we’re struggling to find a date, but we’ll find one eventually.”
Adam Schupak is a senior writer for Golfweek, covering the PGA Tour.
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This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Who is Jackson Suber? Meet the PGA Tour pro who shot 65 Thursday at The Open 2026
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