Five things to know about Jackson Suber, leader at British Open

It’s lonely at the top for Jackson Suber at Royal Birkdale, as he leads the field by a stroke at The Open after opening with a 5-under 65.

Making just his third career start in a major, Suber carded six birdies to go along with an eagle on No. 17 to make an unexpected move to the top of the yellow leaderboards in England, leading by one shot over Sungjae Im and Dan Brown in the year's final major.

“Things just really started going after the birdie on 10,” Suber said. “I just felt like the momentum was really in my favor. Just kind of kept the ball in good spots and didn't put much pressure on my game to make pars.”

Suber may not be a household name, but the second-year TOUR player’s overall game has quietly been trending toward a breakthrough in the second half of the season.

Who is the surprise early leader in golf’s oldest major? Here are five things to know about Suber.

1. It’s his first time playing in Europe

This is not just Suber’s first time playing links golf, but his first trip to Europe in general. He only played 27 holes of preparation ahead of the opening round, first setting foot on links turf on Monday.

“I think I watched a YouTube video on every hole at Birkdale on Friday last week or Thursday, but besides that, yeah, I just have a stats guy that's helped me just knowing that the pot bunkers are no good and stay out of those,” Suber said.

As an iron specialist, Royal Birkdale played to the Tampa native’s strengths Thursday, encouraging Suber to flight long irons. The course is playing significantly firmer, too, which is an ideal chipping surface for Suber.

“Feeling comfortable with that I think is important for me,” Suber said.

2. He got into his first Open Championship via the RBC Canadian Open

The 26-year-old punched his first ticket to The Open with a T4 at the RBC Canadian Open, part of the Open Qualifying Series.

The top three finishers at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley not already exempt to play Royal Birkdale this year qualified. Since second-place Matt Fitzpatrick and third-place Viktor Hovland were already exempt for The Open, Suber was one of the next eligible players to earn a spot (along with winner Bud Cauley and Jesper Svensson) for the final major of the year.

Suber has made just two prior appearances in majors. He finished 73rd at the 2024 U.S. Open at Pinehurst and missed the cut last month at the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills.

3. His path to PGA TOUR membership wasn’t a straight one

Suber played his collegiate career at Ole Miss, where he finished No. 9 in the PGA TOUR University Class of 2022 rankings and earned PGA TOUR Canada membership. He spent one season on the PGA TOUR Canada before competing on the Korn Ferry Tour.

In 2023, Suber came up just short of meeting the top-30 threshold for a PGA TOUR card at the season’s conclusion. The former Rebel seemed in a good position to earn a card for much of the Korn Ferry season, and ultimately falling short proved a significant blow to his psyche.

“It’s like the slow-motion car wreck,” Jonathan Randolph, former PGA TOUR pro and Suber’s mentor, said of how Suber finished 2023. “I’m sure he wouldn’t describe it as such, but when you have everything that you’ve worked for right in front of you and it’s kind of like sand slipping through your fingers, it’s a tough thing to handle physically, emotionally. And to be able to take something good from it and learn from it, clearly he did, because he came back and did everything he could to get the job done.”

Suber came back with a renewed vigor in 2024, notching 10 top-25 finishes on the Korn Ferry Tour, four of which landed him in the top five. He ultimately finished in the top 20 of the 2024 points list, earning him a PGA TOUR card for the 2025 season.

Suber finished No. 117 in the FedExCup standings last year, giving him conditional TOUR status for the 2026 season.

4. His driver has become a factor

Suber’s confidence lies with his irons. He currently ranks in the top five on TOUR in numerous approach categories, whether he’s in or out of the rough. He sits at 20th amongst all TOUR players in Strokes Gained: Approach, which helps him sit in the top third of Strokes Gained: Total.

Recently, Suber has made multiple changes that have helped him grow other areas of his game, most notably in terms of equipment. He put the new Titleist GTS3 driver in his bag, a switch made more notable by the fact that Suber is not prone to changing gear.

“It's just a lot more consistent with the mis-hits I feel like,” Suber said. “Like a toe ball, it just hangs in the air better and doesn't really dive as much offline and kind of holds its spin. I feel like that's been helping me a lot, especially [since] I feel like I have a left miss tendency, so just knowing that that toe ball is going to hold its line more and carry farther is always good.”

Suber’s statistics year-to-year on the TOUR back it up. He went from losing strokes off the tee as a rookie to gaining them, while also increasing his longest drive by 16 yards. He was clinical Thursday with his irons, ranking third in the field in SG: Approach, but his recent uptick off the tee means he'll take a more well-rounded game into the final 54 holes in Southport.

5. His breakthrough has been brewing

Seeing Suber atop the leaderboard may shock some, but he has consistently been in contention over the past two months. Suber entered 2026 with conditional status, yet has since qualified for the U.S. Open and The Open while collecting four top-25 finishes since May, including three top 10s. It’s more impressive when considering just a handful of costly shots down the stretch have stood in the way of Suber potentially securing his first PGA TOUR win.

At his last start at the John Deere Classic, Suber vaulted 33 spots with a second-round 65 to take the lead on Friday while sinking over 100 feet of putts. It led to a T6 finish, his third top-6 finish in his last six starts dating back to THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson in May.

Suber has shown flashes of being a rising name to know on TOUR. And after his opening round at The Open, he’ll have a chance to make that promise permanent if he can carry that momentum into the weekend.