Surprising Open leader Daniel Brown admits he used to hate links golf but has learned to love the game again – and his major debut proved it.
The Northallerton golfer shot a bogey-free 65 and made a birdie on the final hole to finish six under par, one stroke ahead of 2019 champion Shane Lowry.
But after playing hundreds of rounds as an amateur on courses similar to Royal Troon, he lost all interest in links golf.
“I used to hate it. As an amateur, you play it all the time and you get tired of hitting good shots and ending up in pot bunkers,” he said.
“I’ve found that I enjoy it more since I don’t play links golf as much.
“Of course I was nervous on the first tee as it was my first major, but I managed a few nice shots right from the start, so I settled into the round pretty quickly.”
After scoring more points than the best players in the world, the 29-year-old is trying to stay grounded.
When asked if he would have a hard time sleeping if his name was at the top of the leaderboard, he replied: “It has happened to me in the past, but I know there are 54 holes left and there is still a long way to go.”
“I don't think I'll have any trouble sleeping tonight after finishing so late.
“I'll try to stay grounded and get back to work tomorrow.”
Brown is a second-year DP World Tour professional and won the ISPS Handa World Invitational on Tour.
However, he had to complete the final qualification at the West Lancashire Golf Club near Liverpool at the beginning of the month.
“It was obviously huge. You can't imagine how big it will be,” said the world number 272, who is playing with what he described as a “tugging sensation in his back.”
“I went to West Lancs knowing I was either going to play a PGA Tour event at Lake Taho in America or play in the Open. So for me it was a win-win situation: either I played in America or I played here.”
Brown was eliminated in the second-to-last group of the day and his birdie putt on the final hole finally fell at 9:33 p.m., but even though he was tied with the leader on the 18th hole, most of the spectators had already headed home.
He tees off at 11:04 a.m. on Friday and expects to see a few more people then.
“Friday might be a bit tougher than planned, but it will be nice to have a real major tomorrow, the Open Championship.”