Tranlate this title Suber leads from the start at the British Open in spanish

You can’t win a major on the first day. But you can take steps backward to distance yourself from that possibility. The battle among the favorites saw different scenarios this Thursday in the first round of the British Open, which saw American Jackson Suber emerge as the surprising early leader.

With a score of -5, he led a sunny day at Royal Birkdale, which was taken advantage of by some forty players who managed to finish their rounds under par. Among them was Jon Rahm, who looked good and shot -1, putting him in contention for the top spots. Scottie Scheffler also returned to his solid form with a -2 on the day. Rory McIlroy struggled more, finishing with a +2, leaving him with a lot of ground to make up heading into Friday.

British Open, results

Every major is a tournament of survival, and beyond the situation of the leaders of the PGA Tour, the LIV, and the DP World Tour, several men have aligned themselves with that objective at the start. South Korea’s Sungjae Im and England’s Daniel Brown are threatening Suber’s lead from -4, while a very crowded group of players, all at -3, includes Pierceson Coody, M. J. Daffue, Bryson DeChambeau, Thomas Detry, Ryan Gerard, Robert MacIntyre, Francesco Molinari, Cameron Young, and Alex Smalley, who relinquished his co-lead position on the final round.

The closing rounds have caused problems for a wide range of players, and several of the six Spanish participants have been no exception. Rahm, tied for 24th at -1, is the best of them, and Eugenio López-Chacarra, tied for 39th, is the only Spaniard who remains in contention at even par.

Rahm has shown consistency in the early stages of the British Open, although his putting has prevented him from gaining more ground. Three birdies and two bogeys mark his scorecard. All this on a day that didn’t start well for him on the greens, with birdie putts on nearly seven of the first nine holes of his round but a single conversion from mid-range on the par-four 3rd hole.

With a solid -1 after the first half of his round, the problems arose at the start of the back nine. Rahm saved a par-four 10th hole where he had gone into the grass and rewarded himself with a birdie on the 11th for -2. However, a tee shot off the fairway on the 14th and a short tee shot on the par-three 15th resulted in two bogeys that wiped out his cushion. The birdie on the par-five 17th saw him finish as the only Spaniard under par on the opening day.