In the fading light, Major debutant Dan Brown sank a birdie putt on the final hole to dramatically take the lead after the first round of The Open at Royal Troon.
Ranked 272nd in the world, Brown, who qualified for his first Open just two weeks prior at Final Qualifying, casually holed an eight-foot putt at 21:35 BST, finishing with an incredible bogey-free six-under 65.
The 29-year-old from North Yorkshire leads by one shot over 2019 Open champion Shane Lowry, who also carded a bogey-free round.
When asked if he had any pre-tournament hopes, Brown said: “I wouldn’t say I had any really, I just kind of try to go day by day. I’m not a huge goal setter, to be honest.
“I was playing well leading up to the tournament, so scores haven’t really reflected it recently. But, yeah, I felt comfortable and probably a bit more calm than you normally would be with it being your first major.
“I was nervous on the 1st tee, obviously it being my first major, but I hit a few nice shots early, so I kind of got settled into the round pretty quick.”
Brown’s emergence at the top of the leaderboard comes even more of a surprise given his previous distaste gof links golf.
“Yeah, I used to hate it,” he added when quizzed about his opinion on links golf. “As an amateur, obviously you play it all the time, and you get a little bit fed up of hitting good shots and ended up in pot bunkers sometimes, which is the way it is.
“But I’ve found, since I’ve not really been playing too much links golf, that I’ve enjoyed it more. I’ve enjoyed the challenge more and the wind more and the firm conditions.”
