As the gloom began to gather late on Thursday night on the celebrated Lancashire links, Rory McIlroy had to battle hard just to keep his head above water, birdieing the last hole at 8.45pm to ensure he was still in the hunt at two-over par.

On a fairly underwhelming day, too, for the seven-strong Australian challenge, Suber, a 26-year-old from Tampa, grabbed his moment late in the afternoon at the par-five 17th with a remarkable approach from next to a bunker to within six feet, ending up with a rare eagle.

It helped propel him to become just the fourth player ever to post a round of 65 or better on his Open debut, and left Suber sounding a little incredulous as he noted: "This was only my fifth day ever in Europe, so I'm definitely learning the links course."

England's Dan Brown, while puffing away on "seven or eight" cigarettes, and South Korea's Sung-jae Im had earlier shared the lead after ‌66s on the baked links, while Scheffler, bidding to become the first man since Padraig Harrington in 2008 to retain the title, carded a two-under 68, with ‌DeChambeau a stroke better off.

Scheffler had looked set to tear up the course as one of the early starters cashing in on cloudless, windless conditions, birdieing four of the first six holes to be outright early leader.

However, with the breeze gusting up for the later starters, Birkdale eventually bared its teeth to the extent the 30-year-old was pegged back to 68 - good enough to earn him an place among the top 13, but not quite where he'd hoped.

He had started immaculately, holing from 14ft at the second, seven feet at the third, five feet at the fifth, before a whopping 43-footer at the sixth put him out on his own.

From there, it grew more difficult. "There were really only a few shots I hit offline today," he sighed. "I didn't get up-and-down on seven and then missed the fairway on 10 where I'm in a pot bunker, and then on 17, I end up in 'that' spot."

"That" spot turned out to be embedded in thick grass, which eventually cost him a bogey. "It looked like somebody had potentially stepped on it, but nobody would fess up," shrugged Scheffler. "Apparently nobody did."

Im had recorded four birdies in the last nine holes, while Brown made seven birdies on his final 11-hole stretch, being careful to completely stub out his cigarettes on the turf to ensure they weren't a fire hazard. "Sorry, Mum," he apologised, admitting he's not proud he's still smoking.

However, English sports fans had needed a bit of cheer following their World Cup soccer misery the night before against Argentina, and they found an unlikely hero in Brown, who had also led after the opening day at Royal Troon ​in 2024.

No Australian was able to break par, with Min Woo Lee, Lucas Herbert and Cameron John coming closest as they all finished on level par, still in the thick of the hunt. 

Cam Smith, the 2022 champ, and Jason Day, the 2023 runner-up, recorded 73s, while Adam Scott, on his 46th birthday, didn't have much to celebrate with his two-over 72.

Playing alongside Scheffler inspired two-time major winner DeChambeau, who had five birdies offset by a couple of bogeys in his 67. "I think I did an incredibly good job of being more strategic today," said the man who was trying to avoid a fourth-straight missed cut in the majors this season 

Local Southport hero Tommy Fleetwood, cheered to the rafters on every hole, shot a 69, while another luminary to impress early on was Jon Rahm, who also finished at one-under, but McIlroy, with four birdies and six bogeys, struggled all afternoon.