In short:

Australia's golfers struggled again at The Open after disappointing results in golf's other men's majors.

Min Woo Lee was the best placed of the Australians, even at the end of the day and five shots off the lead.

What's next?

Unlikely American Jackson Suber takes the lead heading into the second day of action.

Jason Day felt he should have been well in the red figures, Min Woo Lee ended up having to applaud his own gritty streak, and Adam Scott must have found it a tough old birthday slog.

Yet at the end of a day of what might have been for Australia's seven-strong contingent at the 154th Open Championship, none were able to enjoy the feeling of having kicked off their bids in style at Royal Birkdale as they failed to break par on a day when 38 other players did.

Not that any of the Aussie raiders were out of the picture, with even Day and Cameron Smith, tied outside the top-100, only eight off the pace, but this still felt like a first day when the Australians were bathed in perspiration but not blessed by much inspiration.

Lee, in the morning, when conditions were at the mildest on the sun-baked links, and both Lucas Herbert and Cameron John came closest to breaking the par-70 barrier, all finishing on level par, five shots behind surprise American leader, Jackson Suber.

"It was good in the way of battling … a bit of grit and a bit of patience," Lee said.

"I didn't have too much going great. If I hit it like that a couple of years ago or last year, I would have probably made a lot more bogeys; it was good to grind it out and shoot level par."

Herbert battled back from two-over at the turn to finish on evens, but Smith now has his work cut out to make the weekend four years since he won the Claret Jug at St Andrews after his 73.

Day, in action again after he had pulled out during last month's US Open with more back trouble, was adamant that his own 73 could have been a score in the 60s.

"I played OK, left four or five shots out there, especially with my short game and putting," he said.

"Missed two relatively easy up-and-downs on the back side and then had two three-putts practically. Then I missed a really short birdie putt from like three feet — so that's five shots right there.

"Instead of being three-over, I should be at least two-under without doing too much, without asking too much. I think overall it was pretty solid, I felt pretty good about my game. I just didn't score well at all."

In the late afternoon, the disappointments continued as Scott, on his 46th birthday and in his 101st consecutive major, ended up missing a short putt on the 18th to finish with a 72.

AAP