Daniel Brown and his caddie and brother Ben Brown proved to be a fearsome workforce on Thursday on the Open.
ANDY BUCHANAN / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE (Picture by ANDY BUCHANAN/AFP by way of Getty Pictures
To say that Daniel Brown’s first-ever main championship spherical on Thursday on the 2024 Open Championship went higher than anticipated can be a serious understatement. However it might have come undone on his ultimate few holes if not for some fast considering and key know-how from his brother-turned-caddie.
In case you missed it, Brown, a 29-year-old DP World Tour professional, fired a six-under 65 in troublesome situations within the opening spherical at Royal Troon, giving him the first-round lead. At No. 272 within the Official World Golf Rating, he’s the lowest-ranked golfer to guide a serious spherical since 2016, in accordance with the USA Friday Open telecast.
On Thursday, Brown teed off within the penultimate pairing, setting out at 11:16 a.m. ET, or 4:16 p.m. native time. In Scotland, nightfall doesn’t set in till very late within the summers, however not late sufficient to keep away from darkness impacting Brown’s ultimate few holes.
“It was actually darkish,” Brown mentioned after his spherical. “I’ve seen a number of clips on the TV, and it’s manner darker than what it exhibits on the telly.”
However Brown had one secret weapon by his aspect, his caddie, who additionally occurs to be his brother, Ben. An achieved golfer in his personal proper, Ben had one key factor Daniel didn’t have: information of the AimPoint green-reading approach. These two details proved essential to preserving the Brown boys dialed within the darkness of the Scottish evening.
“My brother’s on the bag, so he is aware of AimPoint,” Daniel mentioned Thursday. “I used to be struggling on them previous few holes to form of like see the slopes and stuff on the inexperienced. So it was laborious to learn putts, however fortunately he is aware of AimPoint, so I used to be sort of placing my belief in him for the final form of like two or three holes.”
To oversimply issues, AimPoint includes straddling your placing line with each ft to really feel the slope on the greens, reasonably than relying in your eyes to learn the putt.
Within the dying gentle Thursday night, the Browns leaned on Ben’s AimPoint information to not solely preserve the sturdy place they’d gained earlier within the spherical, however to leap additional up the leaderboard. Birdies on 16 and 18 gave them the outright lead.
In keeping with Daniel, Ben has solely been on his bag for the previous few weeks following his profitable qualifying try at West Lancashire. Ben performed that qualifier himself, however as a consequence of nagging accidents he did not get by means of to the Open, which is when the thought of him tagging alongside along with his brother took place.
“Yeah, he’s been battling a bit damage, so he hasn’t been taking part in a lot,” Brown mentioned on Thursday. “I mentioned to him, I like having him on the bag. He’s good at studying greens, and he’s clearly golfer himself. So he can provide good recommendation. To share form of my first main with him on the bag is good.”
what can be even nicer for the Brown brothers? Sharing their first main victory collectively on Sunday evening. Fifty-four holes stay to make it occur.
