The defying of logic was everywhere. From Jackson Suber – an American in only his fifth day in Europe, playing links for the very first time – stealing into the first-round lead at the 154th Open on scorched turf, to those who should know better, Justin Rose among them, failing miserably to get their heads around the questions being asked.
Even on a day with only the barest of winds to offer the course protection, the diverse scorecards – ranging from Suber’s 65 to the 80 proffered by Pádraig Harrington, who had a thoroughly horrid time of it on a links which in 2008 gave him back-to-back Claret Jugs – only served to underscored the magical appeal of this most original form of golf.
Rory McIlroy cut one of the most frustrated figures of all, mostly with putter in hand but also with some errant iron approach shots, as the Northern Irishman’s opening round – blighted by a series of missed short putts from inside five feet – saw him signing for two-over 72. It was, however, embellished by a brilliant closing birdie on the 18th that brought some hope to his pursuit.
With rounds stretching to five-and-a-half hours as the sun started its downward trajectory, McIlroy and company in the latter part of the draw contended with putting surfaces that played games with their minds. Shane Lowry’s four-putt on the par-4 15th highlighting everyone’s plight, the Offalyman signing for a one-under 69 to head the seven-strong Irish challenge.
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McIlroy’s round lacked rhyme or reason. His brilliant closing birdie – where he hit a 7-iron approach from 197 yards to four feet – being the fourth of a round that also featured six bogeys, including dropping shots at both of the par-5s on the homeward journey.
While McIlroy’s driver behaved, his putter didn’t, and it proved his Achilles heel. He ranked 148th in overall putting in the field of 156 players, and 155th for putts made inside five feet.
“I felt like they were very inconsistent, just because some parts of the greens are still alive and growing and other parts have went really dead,” said McIlroy. “It sort of reminds me a bit of Pebble Beach when Pebble Beach gets like that for a US Open.
“It’s just hard to judge the speed sometimes. I struggled with that early on. I sort of felt like I got it going a little bit, but just too many stupid mistakes. But every time I made a stupid mistake, thankfully, I made a birdie to sort of keep myself in it. I’m not too far away.
“Hopefully we’ll get the better conditions (in the second round) and maybe the greens are a little bit smoother in the morning. Go out there and shoot a good one and get myself right back in it for the weekend,” he added.
“I felt like I learned quite a bit today about how the course is playing, how the ball is reacting out of the first cut of rough. Definitely when it gets that burnt and that dry, it can sort of do some weird things. I feel like it exaggerates the spin quite a lot. If you’re hitting a draw or hitting a fade, it seems to exaggerate the spin on the ball a lot and that happened to me a few times out there.”
And McIlroy wasn’t alone in getting behind the eight-ball. Rose, his storied career forever associated with a closing chip-in on the 18th to win the silver medal as a 17-year-old amateur back in 1998, struggled to an opening 75, while 2017 champion Jordan Spieth battled to a 73.
Suber, a 26-year-old playing in his second season on the PGA Tour having grafted on the Canadian Tour and the Korn Ferry after graduating from the University of Mississippi, eagled the par-5 17th to jump to the top of the leader board. He ultimately signed for a five-under 65, holding a one-stroke lead over South Korea’s Sungjae Im and England’s Dan Brown.
Yet to win on tour, but with three top-10s in his last six events stateside, Suber spent last week getting acquainted with Birkdale by watching YouTube footage.
Ranked 115th in the world, his lack of experience on links terrain was certainly not evident. “I have a stats guy that’s helped me,” said Suber, “so just knowing that the pot bunkers are no good and stay out of those.” It worked for the first round, as he navigated a route into unchartered territory in his quest for a breakthrough career win.
But there’s a long way to go, for Suber and the rest of the field, with all eyes on the grand prize. But his first steps were certainly impressive.
