Who is Daniel Brown? Everything about The Open Championship 2024’s early leader

Daniel Brown is currently on the top of the leaderboard at the Open Championship 2024. The first round of the 152nd Open concluded on Thursday, July 18, at Royal Troon in Troon, Scotland.

Brown carded a bogey-free 66 in the first round. He scored two birdies in the front nine on the third and fifth holes. On the back nine, he notched four birdies on the 10th, 11th, 16th and 18th holes.

After the round, Brown said (via PGA Tour):

"I was struggling to feel my legs a little bit. After that, I got quite settled."

Daniel Brown qualified for the Open Championship through the final qualifying event at Liverpool's West Lancashire Golf Club. Of the four positions available, Brown tied for third to qualify for the Major. He scored 5-under 139 in 36 holes to compete in his first Major.

Brown was born in Northallerton, North Yorkshire, England. He started playing golf at Bedale Golf Club, and now plays out of Romanby Golf & Country Club. He turned professional in 2017. Brown played on the Evolve Pro Tour in 2017 and 2018. He competed on the PGA EuroPro Tour from 2019 to 2021. He played on the Challenge Tour in 2022 and is competing on the European Tour from 2023.

Daniel Brown has had three professional wins in his golf career. Last year, Brown won the 2023 ISPS Handa World Invitational with a margin of five strokes over Alex Fitzpatrick. He also won twice on the Evolve Pro Tour.

He missed the six cuts in the last seven starts as he was struggling with a cyst in his knee. He said (via PGA Tour):

"I haven’t really got going since, but there’s no player in the world who doesn’t go through a spell where they’re struggling. I haven’t been playing badly – I’ve just been impatient, and I had to be patient here."

Brown's younger brother Ben is on the bag with him at Royal Troon. On the leaderboard, he is followed by Shane Lowry who is positioned second with a score of 5 under. In third position is Justin Thomas with 3 under.

Scottie Scheffler is tied at 11th with 1 under, Rory Mcllroy is tied at 129th with 7 over, and Tiger Woods is tied at 140th with 8 over.

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A look at Daniel Brown's performance in 2024

Daniel Brown has had a mixed 2024 season so far. In the 16 starts this year, he has two top-5 finishes and four top-25 finishes. His best performances include T3 at the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open and T4 at SDC Championship.

Daniel Brown's other notable performances include T17 at the Joburg Open and T23 at the Jonsson Workwear Open. However, he has missed the cut in seven of the 16 starts. In the last seven starts, he has missed the cut in six of them.

Let's take a look at Daniel Brown's performance in the 2024 season:

2023-24 DP World Tournaments

• Joburg Open: T17 (69-68-65-71, 273, -7)
• Investec SA Open Championship: Withdrawn
• AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open: T3 (68-68-73-65, 274, -14)
• Dubai Invitational: T43 (70-79-69-68, 286, +2)
• Hero Dubai Desert Classic: Missed Cut (76-76, 152, +8)
• Ras al Khaimah Championship: T76 (71-68-72-77, 288, E)
• Commercial Bank Qatar Masters: T61 (70-73-71-75, 289, +1)
• SDC Championship: T4 (66-67-72-75, 280, -8)
• Jonsson Workwear Open: T23 (70-70-69-64, 273, -15)
• Porsche Singapore Classic: Missed Cut (71-73, 144, E)
• Soudal Open: Missed Cut (70-70, 140, -2)
• European Open: Withdrawn
• Volvo Car Scandinavian Mixed: Missed Cut (78-73, 151, +7)
• KLM Open: Missed Cut (79-69, 148, +6)
• Italian Open: Missed Cut (67-75, 142, E)
• BMW International Open: Missed Cut (73-71, 144, E)