Daniel Brown’s debut round at the Open Championship saw the 29-year-old birdie the final hole at Royal Troon, securing the overnight lead. Brown’s bogey-free 65 on Thursday was one stroke better than Shane Lowry and three clear of Justin Thomas in third place. This performance comes after Brown missed seven of his last eight cuts on the DP World Tour, with his best finish being 61st.
Xander Schauffele is among the players at 2-under, while World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and five-time major winner Brooks Koepka are four shots off the pace.
| PLACE | PLAYER | TOTAL TO PAR | ROUND 1 SCORE |
| 1 | Dan Brown | -6 | 65 |
| 2 | Shane Lowry | -5 | 66 |
| 3 | Justin Thomas | -3 | 68 |
| T-4 | Alex Noren | -2 | 69 |
| T-4 | Nicolai Hojgaard | -2 | 69 |
| T-4 | Justin Rose | -2 | 69 |
| T-4 | Xander Schauffele | -2 | 69 |
| T-4 | Mackenzie Hughes | -2 | 69 |
| T-4 | Nicolai Hojgaard | -2 | 69 |
| T-4 | Joe Dean | -2 | 69 |
| T-4 | Russell Henley | -2 | 69 |
| T-11 | Scottie Scheffler | -1 | 70 |
| T-11 | Brooks Koepka | -1 | 70 |
| T-11 | Adam Scott | -1 | 70 |
| T-11 | Matt Wallace | -1 | 70 |
| T-11 | Matthew Fitzpatrick | -1 | 70 |
| T-11 | Chris Kirk | -1 | 70 |
| T-11 | Sepp Straka | -1 | 70 |
Brown’s position on the leaderboard is unexpected, marking his first appearance at The Open and his first-ever major. He has only one top-20 finish on the DP World Tour this year. Despite this, he navigated the challenging Royal Troon course with ease in the second-to-last group of the day.
Shane Lowry, who nearly held the overnight lead until Brown’s late birdie, excelled on the greens, making 126 feet of putts and leading the field in strokes gained: putting. Lowry attributed his performance to a prior scouting trip to Royal Troon.
“I came here two weeks ago, and sometimes I struggle when I come back here from playing a season on the PGA TOUR with the speed of the greens, but for some reason I got here, it was my first golf outside of America in a while, and I played a couple of practice rounds here, and I was really happy with how my speed was,” Lowry said. “My speed control was very good, and I seen my lines great. I feel like links greens, when you start to see your lines, the hole feels quite big, so it felt like that today, and long may it continue.”
Justin Thomas, another major champion, performed well in the windy conditions on Scotland’s western coast, shooting a 3-under 68. His score nearly held the first-round lead until Lowry and Brown surpassed him.
Schauffele, a PGA Championship winner, is part of the group at 2-under, while several major champions at 1-under, including Scheffler and Koepka, remain in contention. Scheffler eagled the 16th and birdied the 18th to finish under par, while Koepka recorded four consecutive birdies on the front nine. Matthew Fitzpatrick and Adam Scott are also within reach.
However, some notable players struggled on Day 1. Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau, prominent from June’s U.S. Open, had challenging rounds. McIlroy made double-bogeys on Troon’s signature holes (Nos. 8 and 11) and posted a 7-over 78. DeChambeau started with a 6-over 42 on the front nine before recovering slightly with a 1-under score on the back nine, ending with a 76. Both players will need strong performances on Friday to make the weekend cut.
