Sweden's best golfer is only the third Swede in the competition. Henrik Stenson and Joakim Lagergren, who played earlier in the day, are two under par heading into Friday's second round.
Åberg struggled on the greens, and he wasn't the only one among those who went out late in the day. World number two Rory McIlroy and world number three Matt Fitzpatrick both finished over par.
“Keeps me going”
The Swede had two birdies and three bogeys. He is six strokes behind leading American Jackson Suber.
I'm still happy with how I managed to pull it together, after all. I'm staying in the competition, you could say,” Åberg tells Aftonbladet and continues:
Hopefully there will be a little less wind tomorrow morning. I'll try to get a good score and then we'll see how we do for the weekend.
Åberg tees off at 10:00 on Friday.
Things went better for the Swedes who went earlier in the day. Ten years after his triumph at Royal Troon, Henrik Stenson shows that he can still play good golf.
“Very pleased”
He went two under par in the first round of The Open and is tied for 13th place.
I'm really happy with the round, he tells Viaplay.
The 50-year-old Swede hasn't played many competitions since he was forced to leave the LIV tour last year.
But he showed during the first round at Royal Birkdale that he thrives on British links courses, which gave him victory in the 2016 British Open.
I make a bad hole, the eleventh where I make a double bogey. I'm really happy that we had the patience to fight on and then get some reward with some good shots. Three birdies on the last four holes takes it from a mediocre round to a good round, he says.
Joakim Lagergren also finished at -2.
Alex Norén finished at +1 and Jesper Svensson at +3.
