Check in to GOLF’s Tour Confidential every Sunday night for the unfiltered opinions of our writers and editors as they break down the hottest topics in the sport. This week, with the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, we’ll hit one key topic each night.
Jackson Suber shot 65 to take the early lead at the 2026 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, although that wasn’t the only surprise of Day 1 (looking at you, Bryson!). What was the biggest surprise on Thursday?
Sean Zak, senior writer: Francesco Molinari! I’m dead serious. Frankie has been a broken golfer ever since the 12th hole of the 2019 Masters. Rarely has someone been the best on the planet and crater so quickly. But if we’re looking hard at this golf course, does it not have a good bit of Carnoustie in it? He’s T4 and two off the early lead.
James Colgan, news and features editor: Henrik Stenson! The guy ranks 1,600th in the world! He doesn’t have an OWGR-recorded start since LAST YEAR’s Open! And now he’s on the first page of the leaderboard after Day 1. That’s impressive stuff, even if his CRNWD hat should be doused in lighter fluid and then tossed into a furnace.
Nick Piastowski, senior editor: David Howard, who shot a 74, but the surprise, as he told it, is that he’s playing at all. Diagnosed with cystic fibrosis when he was 7, he said this earlier this week to the BBC: “When I was 12 or 13 I didn’t even think I’d live to this age — to be here now, healthy as ever and playing with all these top players, it doesn’t even make sense to me.” On Thursday, he also received one of the biggest applauses on the 1st hole. “It was like I won something big,” he said. “It’s class. Nothing like that before.”
Jessica Marksbury, senior editor: How about Mr. DeChambeau? After three straight missed cuts in the majors this year, I don’t think anyone was expecting much from Bryson this week. But an opening 67 (with two bogeys on the back nine) to sit only two shots off the first-round lead is a nice surprise indeed.
Josh Schrock, associate news editor: Well, 18-year-old amateur Lev Grinberg became the first Ukrainian-born player to tee it up in a major championship on Thursday. Grinberg practices at the French Golf Federation at Le Golf National and will play college golf in the future. It was a big, historic stage but Grinberg seemed unfazed. He shot one over, which was good enough to beat Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth and Justin Rose. He’ll have a chance to make the cut and play the weekend, but he’s already thinking about more. “It’s my first major and I’m pretty sure that if everything goes well with my body I will be back to many more majors,” Grinberg said. “Just going to have fun tomorrow and learn how everything is going to be.” The kid doesn’t lack for confidence.
