I participate in a golf course architecture forum away from GolfWRX, and the hot topic this week is how disinterested folks in Europe and the United Kingdom are with proper preservation and restoration. In other words, they embrace renovation in a way that USA golf course architecture fans do not. Ironic, huh? This matters this week, because the Royal Birkdale course on display in 2026, differs from the one last seen in 2017. That iteration, nine years in the mirror, was disimilar to the 2008 and 1998 and 1991 and … well, you get the idea. Birkdale is second to the Old Course at St. Andrews for frequencey of venue. It rewards golfers at the top of their game, with Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods being notable exceptions to the winners’ wall.
The Southport Merseyside course offers a quirk not usually seen at Open venues. It has multiple, 90 degree dogleg holes, and loads of flattish fairways. In fact, the rumpled fairway is quite the exception at Birkdale. Only a few exist, and they are recent additions to the links. More irony for the stew. On Thursday’s balance sheet, young upstarts and seasoned winners shared the top of the leader’s board, asserting that Royal Birkdale shows favoritism only to the brave and talented. Who might this cast of brave and talented golfers include? Let’s ferry ‘cross the Mersey and have a look at the five things that we learned, on Thursday at the Open Championship.
Act One: Jackson Suber, show pony
The young Ole Miss alumnus earned the day-one medal by ripping six birdies and an eagle from the Birkdale scorecard. His go-for-broke approach more than offset the three bogeys that he found on the day. Suber wasn’t the most accurate golfer off the tee, but it didn’t much matter. He made up for laissez-faire driving with accurate iron play (third in the field) and stellar putting (fourth in the field.)
Birkdale is the only links venue on the Open rota to feature an inland water feature. Suber found it on the sixth hole, and did well to escape with bogey. At the eighth and thirteenth holes, wild tee shots lead to tricky recovery shots, missed greens, failed pitches, and two more, lost shots. Suber will see the early-morning sun on day two, with a 7:30 tee time. If he reaches the halfway point near the lead, we’ll learn the extent to which he can harness the driver and pitching, and preserve the putting and approach play.
Act Two: BDC
Barring a monumental evisceration of soul, Bryson DeChambeau should survive his first, 36-hole cut in the 2026 major championship series. Good timing, as this happens to be the final one. DeChambeau trotted out a new bag of irons, replacing the prototypes that he gamed in the first three Grand Slam events of 2026. On Thursday, BDC drove greenside on the par four tenth hole, bypassing one of the aforementioned, ninety-degree doglegs. He had a total of five birdies on the day, but two inward bogeys dropped him from the lead.
From tee to green, the thick Physicist was the match of any player in the field. All three categories (strokes gained driving, on approach, and around green ) were top ten on the day. The putter let DeChambeau down, as he ranked 117th on the day. As with all facets of his game, both his putter and his putting style reek of esoteria. When he is on, he is on. When he is off, he misses cuts. It wasn’t that BDC had multiple three-putt greens. It was that he simply holed no putts of any length or consequence. If a long putt or two had gone in, the two-time, U.S. Open champion would have been off to the races.
Act Three: Big and Bigger Names
Both Robert MacIntyre and Cameron Young found their way to a score of 67. Each sits two shots off the day-one lead. MacIntyre is a big name. He has Scottish and Canadian Open wins in his portfolio, and plays with a grit and an anger more often found on a pitch than a course. If not for two rancid pulls on the 17th and 18th holes, MacIntyre might have occupied a higher rung on the ladder. He saved par at both holes, but should have been putting for birdie. Certainly, he did not need the anguish that comes with needed up-and-downs. The 15th-ranked player in the world did everything well on Thursday, and avoided lost shots. He had but one, at the fearsome eighth hole.
Young is a bigger name. He is the reigning Players champion, and is ranked fourth in the world. Like MacIntyre, he shined bright and fierce in the 2025 Ryder Cup. Like MacIntyre, Young is chasing the elusive, first major championship. Young came second to Cameron Smith at St. Andrews in 2022. He understands the links game and understands the pressures of major championship contention. Like MacIntyre, Young played the long game. He had a solitary bogey, and four birdies. He took few risks, preferring to find opportunity, rather than seize it.
Act Four: Those Guys
Day one of a major championship always brings a spate of those guys. Names like Im, Brown, Detry, Smalley, and even, Molinai? Yes, we have to lump the 2018 champion golfer of the year (Francesco Molinari) in with those guys. Molinari has been one of those guys since the pandemic.
Those guys balance on the high wire, and check in with scores that will serve as a career highlight. I led the Open, or I was top-five at the Open. With near certainty, they won’t be around on Sunday. If they are, they most likely won’t win. Journeymen like J.J. Spaun (2025 U.S. Open) claim majors from time to time, but it’s somewhat rare. This year’s journeyman champion is Aaron Rai, at the PGA Championship. There won’t be another, unless the weather turns rotten and diminishes skill in the equation.
Act Five: Biggest surprises, in a bad way
There was no wind. There was no rain. There was no unfair hole location. Royal Birkdale wasn’t a pushover, nor was it a beast. There is no way to explain away Gary Woodland (78), Joaquin Niemann and Justin Rose (76), nor even Matt Fitzpatrick, Rory McIlroy, and Patrick Reed (72). In fact, it’s a wonder that the leading score was not lower than 65, and that only one person authenticated a scorecard with that number.
Gone are the days of all players within ten shots of the lead, gaining a spot on the weekend. After 18 holes, 141 players are within ten shots of the lead at Birkdale. The low 70 and ties will earn a tee time on Saturday, and that number currently is plus-one. 84 players posted 71 or better on Thursday, and 84 more are likely to post that number on Friday. 21 players are one shot higher than 71, and another 22 are another shot back. Count the 23 golfers at 71, and 66 golfers are within two shots of the cut line.
What does that mean? We’ll either see a super-easy, or a super-difficult set-up on Friday. Golfers need to be moved away from the cut line. The Royal and Ancient wants 35 games (two-man pairings) on Saturday and Sunday, not 45 or 50.
