SOUTHPORT, England — Jackson Suber showed some nerves as the British Open leader in his debut, and then plenty of resolve Friday when he recovered from three straight bogeys for a 1-under 69. The way Royal Birkdale was playing, it wasn't enough to stay atop the leaderboard.
Lucas Herbert of Australia got off to a stunning start in only a mild breeze with a 28 on the front nine that tied the British Open record by Denis Durnian in 1983 at Royal Birkdale.
Herbert was 8 under for the round through 14 holes and had another par 5 still to play, putting him in position to break the major championship record of 62 set by Branden Grace of South Africa at Royal Birkdale in 2017.
And it was still early in the second round.
Patrick Reed, the American who leads the Race to Dubai on the European tour, was 6 under through 14 holes and also challenging records. Reed shot a 59 when he won the Hong Kong Open in 2024.
Rory McIlroy was 2 under for the day — back to level for the championship — but not getting as much out of his round as so many others.
Surprise leader
Suber was a surprise leader because he had never played links golf until a practice round Monday at Royal Birkdale — he had never even been to Europe — and he has yet to win as a professional. He opened with a 65 for a one-shot lead.
Playing early on Friday, he birdied the second until it started to fall apart on him. Suber had consecutive three-putt bogeys on the sixth and seventh holes. He ran into trouble in the rough and made a third straight bogey on the eighth.
But he settled himself with a birdie on the 10th and 11th holes, and picked up one more birdie on the par-5 17th when he reached the front of the green in two shots.
Keeping up with Herbert
At that point, it was all he could do to keep up with Herbert.
The Australian opened with three straight birdies, and he drove to the edge of the 321-yard fifth hole for an easy birdie. His one long putt came from 35 feet for birdie on the par-3 seventh, and he holed from 25 feet off the green at the ninth.
Scores have been coming down in golf as a natural evolution of the game. Grace was the first to reach 62 in a major in the third round at Birkdale in 2017. Xander Schauffele and Rickie Fowler each shot 62 at the 2023 U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club. Schauffele and Shane Lowry each shot 62 at the 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla.
___
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
