Who is Daniel Brown, the surprising early leader at the British Open?

After a stormy, chaotic first round at the British Open , one man stands alone at the top of the leaderboard: Daniel Brown. Just as we all expected, right?

Brown fired a 6-under 65 with six birdies and no bogeys in a brutally tough first round from Royal Troon Golf Club on Thursday. He beat world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler by five strokes and demolished world No. 2 Rory McIlroy by 13 on Thursday. But who is this little-known golfer shocking the world at the British Open? Let's find out.

Who is Daniel Brown?

Brown is a 29-year-old professional golfer who grew up in Northallerton, England. He enjoyed a successful amateur career in Europe that featured wins at the 2015 Dutch Junior Open and the 2016 English Amateur. After turning pro in 2017, Brown joined the Challenge Tour and made just two cuts in his 11 starts in 2018.

Brown then jumped to the EuroPro Tour for two years before playing his way back to the Challenge Tour in 2022. A successful season punched his ticket to the DP World Tour the following year where he picked up his first professional victory at the ISPS Handa World Invitational. He's still a member of the DP World Tour in 2024 and is No. 272 in the Official World Golf Ranking.

Brown qualified for the British Open on the number

Brown is making his first career major championship start this week. He only cracked the field for the 2024 British Open because he drained a 20-foot putt on the final hole of his qualifying event to qualify by one stroke.

The fact that Brown is even here is a minor miracle.

Brown was playing terrible golf heading into the British Open

If you've never heard Brown's name before today, that's likely because he's never been a member of the PGA Tour. The Englishman has played in only two PGA Tour events in his career, most recently at last week's Genesis Scottish Open where he finished in a tie for 61st place. Interestingly, that was his best finish in a golf tournament since March.

Brown had been struggling mightily on the DP World Tour with six straight missed cuts leading up to the British Open. He shot a combined 11 over par over that stretch and ranks 96th on the DP World Tour this season in strokes gained from putting.

So, of course, Brown shot a 65 at Royal Troon in his first career major championship round while ranking second in the field in strokes gained from putting.

Golf!