Daniel Brown, who has qualified for the British Open, is in the running to win after two rounds.
He was leading the British Open after finishing with a 6-under 65 on Thursday, but a 1-over 73 on Friday put him two strokes behind leader Shane Lowry and one spot down.
Brown, a relative unknown among golf fans, has navigated these treacherous conditions like a veteran, but he was quick to admit that Friday’s play was much tougher than Thursday’s.
“I think it was tough for three or four shots for sure,” Brown said.
“Even the first nine holes were pretty strong, and then the second half, I thought it would be easier if I got back downwind, but it was so firm and I had a really hard time staying on the greens.”
Brown didn’t get going with two bogeys in the first nine holes, but made up for it on the par-four 10th. The Englishman got back to par for the day on the 17th hole thanks to his second birdie, but things got tough on the 18th hole, and he quickly lost it with a bogey on the final hole.
This week marks Brown’s British Open debut, and while it’s exciting for a player ranked 272nd in the world to be climbing up the rankings, he’s not getting any younger and there’s still a lot of golf to be done, so he’s decided to keep his excitement in check.
“Obviously after 18 holes we’ll be in a good situation, but there’s still 54 holes to go and I’ve played enough golf to know it’s a bit of a challenge to play in these conditions,” he said.
“I knew if I dropped a couple shots in a moment I might not be able to get out of there, but yeah, it’s a long week and we’ll just hang in there and hopefully get out of there on Sunday.”
The 29-year-old British pro has made the cut once in his last eight tournaments but got lucky after 36 holes this week, finishing 61st at last week’s Genesis Scottish Open.
Brown said it wasn’t a bad performance, but rather he was just knocking off the rust after missing more than six weeks with a knee injury.
The Englishman has 36 holes to play and will be playing alongside Lawry in the final group on Saturday. How do you think debutants will handle the pressure and conditions of a British Open weekend?
Savannah Lee Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation Playing Through. Follow us for more golf articles. Follow You can follow us on all major social platforms. You can also follow us on Twitter Follow Her Instagram account is @golf_girl_sl.
