Suber leads a day of surprises in his first Open Championship - ESPN

SOUTHPORT, England — Jackson Suber got his first taste of links golf on his first trip to Europe when he arrived at Royal Birkdale. Three days later, he proved to be a quick study with a superb par save and a 6-foot eagle late in his first round for a 5-under 65 to lead the British Open.

Bryson DeChambeau might be getting the hang of this, too, no matter what three-time British Open champion Nick Faldo thinks about his strategy.

An opening round — lasting some 15 hours — included just about everything during a warm and breezy start. Five of the leading 12 players were playing The Open for the first time. Rory McIlroy missed three 4-foot putts in a four-hole span and had six bogeys in his round of 72. Scottie Scheffler opened with four birdies in six holes and didn't make another the rest of the way for a 68.

Most startling was Suber, a 26-year-old American who has yet to win anywhere since leaving Ole Miss and is playing in only his third major.

He made a tough par save on the new par-3 15th, which slopes off severely on both sides. He followed with a 6-foot birdie on the 16th, then choked up on a 4-iron from 233 yards and hit it to 6 feet for an eagle.

Not bad for his seventh round in any major, and first on a links course as tough as Birkdale.

«Just kind of kept the ball in good spots and didn't put much pressure on my game to make pars,» Suber said.

He led by one shot over Sungjae Im and Daniel Brown of England. The nine players at 67 include four Open debutants — Alex Smalley, Ryan Gerard, M.J. Daffue, and Pierceson Coody.

DeChambeau leaned on his strategy of often ripping driver to take the fearsome bunkers out of play for a 67 that left him two shots behind.

DeChambeau hit four fairways and missed three greens,