The Open: Surprise leader Jackson Suber extends advantage on day two
Open leader Jackson Suber consolidated his position on day two at Royal Birkdale as an early birdie extended his advantage to two shots.
The 26-year-old world number 115 was the surprise name to emerge on Thursday and the American made a solid start with a birdie at the second hole to become the first player to reach six under.
His position was being challenged by England’s Matt Wallace, who had four birdies and one bogey on his front nine as he turned in 31, just two shots back.
Rory McIlroy was also hoping to benefit from the more favourable side of the second-round draw to get his tournament back on track.
The Masters champion, at two over and seven off the pace, found the afternoon conditions on Thursday – with a stronger wind and crustier greens – testing.
“I’m not too far away. If you look at the discrepancy between the scoring this morning and the scoring this afternoon, it looks like that’s going to be flipped with the conditions again,” he said after his round of 72 in which he struggled with the putter.
“Hopefully I can take advantage of the more benign conditions in the morning and shoot one under par and get back in it.”
The skies may have been cloudier than on day one but the wind out of the east was negligible again and with the early-morning dew making the course a little more forgiving the early starters needed to take advantage.
Among those looking to do so were McIlroy’s playing partners Matt Fitzpatrick (also two over) and 2024 champion Xander Schauffele (one over), US PGA champion Aaron Rai (one over) and US Open champion Wyndham Clark (three over).
