Englishman Daniel Brown, playing his first major, carded 65 strokes (6 under par) this Thursday. To become the first and only leader of the 152nd edition of the British Golf OpenThe fourth and last ‘major’ of 2024 and which is played at the Scottish club Royal Troon until Sunday.
In his first major, Dan Brown, 29, who holds a DP World Tour title (2023 ISPS Handa World Invitational), moved into a lead with Irishman Shane Lowry on the 18th hole of his round. champion in 2019And took first place thanks to a birdie with the night already settled in the Scottish countryside.
One man behind Brown at the table is Shane Lowry, 37 and winner of the Claret Jug at Royal Portrush five years ago (his only major to date). He had the lead in hand and waited in the clubhouse until Brown defied him in the last breath of the day with a long putt for birdie.
brown, Qualified for his first major at the West Lancashire course on June 24And Lowry was the player who knew best how to deal with the complexities of a region that was hosting the famous ‘Open Championship’ for the tenth time in history, eight years after the last one.
On a day marked by bad wind, rain and cold conditions, and after which only 17 players managed to finish on par, Brown made six birdies and Lowry five. Neither has a blemish on their cards.
“It got dark and it got a little bit tricky, but the wind died down as well. It’s hard to see the bright yellow markers, but I’m feeling comfortable with my game. I’m very excited, but I have to keep my feet steady on the ground, so I’ll go out there tomorrow and do my best,” Brown explained.
The American is four behind Brown Justin Thomas Seven players are already tied at four: Sweden’s Alex Noren, Dane Nicolai Højgaard, English Justin Rose and Joe Dean, American Russell Henley and Xander Schauffele and Canadian Mackenzie Hughes,
Also in the field with 70 (-1) were Australian Adam Scott, the English Matt Wallace and Matt Fitzpatrick, Austrian Sepp Straka and the Americans Chris Kirk, Brooks Koepka and world number one American Scottie Scheffler, who started the Open with four birdies, the last of them on the 18th, for three bogeys.
Defending champions, having won last year’s title at Royal Liverpool, American Brian Harman started with a 73 (+2), while the legendary Tiger Woods, three-time winner of the Open (200, 2005 and 2006), signed a 79 (+8), which greatly complicates his continuation in the weekend at Royal Troon.
“Physically I feel a lot better than I did at the beginning of the year. It was tough at the end of last year, and I didn’t play much. I think, as the year goes on, I’m improving. I would like to play a little more, but I’m saving myself for the majors, I’m hoping next year will be a little better than this,” Woods explained.
Jon Rahm, Prudent, starts at +2
Spaniard Jon Rahm, winner of two majors and now integrated into the LIV circuit, made a prudent start by carding 73 strokes (2 over par).
The start on the ‘Leon de Barrica’ course was not giving a good feeling, as he missed three fairways early in the first four holes and fell into the long side grass that characterizes the Scottish course. However, he managed to save par in the first three with good approach shots.
The fourth hole saw his first bogey of the day, which he later repeated on the 13th and 16th holes, but from the fifth hole onwards he started to find good feel in his shots. He was very close to a birdie on 5, where he missed a five-foot putt, but he made it on 8 (his only birdie of the day).
He entered a phase of ‘normality’ with consecutive pars until the 13th hole, where he made his second ‘bogey’. He repeated it on the 16th to end his round with pairs.
“As difficult as it was, today I got a ‘forward’ result and we’ll see if tomorrow we play a little better,” commented the Basque.
