The Open: Who is first-round leader Dan Brown?

The Open Championship has a habit of catapulting obscure golfers into the public eye.

Justin Rose finished T4 as an amateur in 1998, with amateur Paul Dunne tied for the lead going into the final round in 2015.

While not an amateur, Dan Brown leapt from similar obscurity to take the surprise first-round lead on Thursday with a sensational round of 65.

A remarkable driving performance, particularly considering the conditions, Brown hit the first 11 fairways, finishing with 12 out of 14 fairways. While his approach play was also solid, his putter was on fire, holing putts from 14ft, 13ft, 37ft, 45ft and 13ft before holing an eight-footer on the 18th to take the first-round lead.

The 29-year-old is playing in his first major and is only into his second season on the DP World Tour, having spent the first few years of his professional career bouncing between the Challenge Tour and EuroPro Tour.

In his maiden season, Brown won the ISPS Handa World Invitational in Northern Ireland, beating Alex Fitzpatrick by five shots. Brown retained his tour card but has had a more mixed 2024.

The Englishman has top-five finishes at the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open and the SDC Championship, but missed six straight cuts prior to last week's Scottish Open where he came 61st.

While it would be an unbelievable story, Brown has plenty of shots in hand on the rest of the field besides Lowry, and is available at 35/1 to win The Open.

Liam Williams

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