Dan Brown on Saturday after his Open Championship third spherical.
Getty Photographs
After teeing off with the lead on the Open Championship’s 54th gap, and after hitting that tee ball so near a fairway bunker that he wanted to face in it to hit, and after doing that actual identical factor 17 holes earlier (what are the percentages there?), and after bogeying the earlier gap, and after every week of listening to the whispers of ‘who the heck is that this dude,’ Dan Brown was smoking.
Smoking smoking. He’d lit up a cigarette. No, no, he wasn’t sizzling. Solely the tobacco was.
Yeah, yeah, we’re not prudish right here, although. It tells us little, proper? Truthful. How about this then?
After dropping the heater, amidst a small cloud of smoke, your chief after 53 Open Championship holes stopped for a pic with some lads to the appropriate of Royal Troon’s 18th gap, seconds earlier than maybe the largest shot of his 33-year-old life.
Mentioned Dan Hicks on NBC’s broadcast of the smokey selfie: “In the meantime, Brown comes up. He’s been smoking his manner round Troon. After which he says, why not, how a few selfie earlier than I tackle this subsequent stance? That’s being within the second.”
Mentioned analyst Luke Donald: “I assumed Bryson [DeChambeau] was pro-crowd. I imply that is one other stage.”
Mentioned Hicks: “Ain’t that one thing? He’s one of many folks.”
Add a devil-may-care type then to what many people have come to be taught this week in regards to the Englishman ranked 272nd on the planet. Friday, through a stunning profile by GOLF’s Michael Bamberger (that you may learn right here), we additionally discovered that Brown’s father is within the pig enterprise, that his mother’s a mortgage advisor, that Ping reps are amongst Brown’s followers and that Brown has ceaselessly been an Open Championship devotee.
However do we all know if he can win it?
What did we see Saturday? He bogeyed 1 after the unlucky bunker dangerous break. However then, amidst wind and rain and Troon’s humps and bumps, Brown rebounded with a birdie on 3. And one on 6. And one on 7. That one was one thing. Brown pushed his ball proper off the tee, towards the eighth inexperienced and close to the head of professional Dean Burmester, earlier than settling simply previous the placing floor. From there, Brown dropped his second shot to 4 ft — then apologized to Burmester and enjoying associate Billy Horschel. After that, he bogeyed thrice and birdied twice, earlier than a bogey hit upon 17 and the second bunker inconvenience of the day on 18 that led to a double bogey.
Added collectively, it gave Brown a two-over 73 and a three-under whole, placing him in a six-way tie for second, with the sixsome one stroke again of Horschel heading into Sunday’s remaining spherical. However these late slip-ups, Brown swore, have been born from Troon. From the course. From the situations. So howling have been the breezes, in truth, that he stated he wanted driver on 17 — which measured 238 yards.
However might the problem have performed in his favor? To the place you’re so targeted on what’s in entrance of you that you just’re blinded to what’s round you, just like the followers, like questions on your background, like ideas of what a win would imply. Possibly. On the NBC broadcast, analyst and former Tour participant Brad Faxon thought so. “For a man who’s younger and has by no means been right here earlier than,” he stated, “I believe that is to his benefit as we speak, when he doesn’t have to consider being close to the lead — you’re simply interested by protecting your membership dry and plodding by way of this.”
Afterward, Brown stated as a lot too. However actually, and he stored going again to it, he stated he feels positive, claret jug be damned. Issues like in-the-arena selfies have been nothing.
Requested a reporter: “How snug have you ever felt on this state of affairs the final three days? It’s a brand new expertise for you enjoying in a serious. How have the consolation ranges been, sleeping at night time and stuff like that?”
Answered Brown: “Yeah, very snug. Clearly it’s not a traditional week, however I really feel like mentally I’ve been in a spot the place I’ve handled it like a traditional week on the DP World Tour. I’ve not made it really feel any larger than what it’s, and it’s a lot larger, clearly.”
Requested a reporter: “How powerful is it to take care of this place mentally?”
Answered Brown: “I felt OK. I suppose lots of people in all probability thought I used to be going to be shaking this morning and actually nervous, however I’ve been completely positive.”
Requested a reporter: “Nobody is aware of the way you’re going to be till you’re in that state of affairs.”
Answered Brown: “Yeah, I didn’t know. I didn’t know final night time if I used to be going to get up this morning, be nervous, sweaty, no matter it is likely to be, however I believe I felt all proper.”
Requested a reporter: “Are you proud you’ve stored your nerves in verify given what’s at stake?”
Answered Brown: “I’m fairly a peaceful, relaxed individual anyway, however I believe I’ve had sufficient experiences on the DP World Tour and kind of my journey by way of golf to know how you can deal with these conditions. I’ve failed earlier than, and I believe that’s what’s stood me in good stead for being right here.”
However no manner would he be that manner Saturday night time, proper? That relies upon. Appears as if Brown’s crew are having themselves a time. The boys are sharing a home. They’re ingesting beers. They’re hot-tubbing. They protecting him awake? “No, not fairly,” he stated.
OK, so he’s good. Actual good. And he may simply win. And the trophy of us will rejoice along with his eight-letter-long, easy-to-spell title.
However actually, deep down, pressure-oblivious Brown is an effective lad, or not less than he’s making an attempt to be, and we’ll finish issues right here with this alternate, simply in case two of us near Brown might need gotten disturbed over the beginning of this story.
These cigarettes — are they for calming the nerves, a reporter puzzled.
“No, that’s only a little bit of a foul behavior that I’ve bought into,” Brown stated. “Have you learnt what — I solely actually do it after I’m {golfing}, to be sincere, so I suppose it might be a coping mechanism. I used to be making an attempt to sneak.”
Why?
“I imply, my mother and pop are right here,” he stated. “There’s lots of people watching. I don’t know the way persons are going to take it. Clearly, I’m certain lots of people know …”
His mother and father didn’t know he smoked?
“They do know,” Brown stated, “however I don’t do it in entrance of them, or I don’t need to do it in entrance of them, so I try to cover it.”
