Cinderella Open Championship Contender Daniel Brown Channels John Daly, Rips Cigs In The Rain At Royal Troon

John Daly sadly withdrew from The Open Championship at Royal Troon this year after a tough first round and a knee injury that he couldn't continue competing with. However, his spiritual essence is still permeating the Scottish links thanks to Daniel Brown. The 29-year-old Englishman is making his major debut in real style this week. He played his way into the final pairing alongside Shane Lowry for Saturday's third-round action, and happens to be chiefing heaters amid his improbable journey to the top of the leaderboard. https://twitter.com/AndyTFE/status/1814688992388129191 https://twitter.com/NoLayingUp/status/1814689195908100143 Daly is of course famous for chain smoking during golf tournaments and promoting a hard, fast lifestyle. With many good years of golf still presumably ahead of him, here's hoping Brown uses this week's breakout performance as a springboard into greater prominence. The similarities with Daly don't necessarily end at a nagging nicotine habit, though. Daly famously won the 1991 PGA Championship as the ninth alternate, needing a ton of golfers ahead of him to drop out of the tournament just to gain entry. Whereas Daly's elite talent was never really in question, Brown (no offense, dawg) hasn't made many waves across the golfing landscape, save for winning the European Tour's ISPS Handa World Invitational almost a year ago. He was hardly in strong form coming into Royal Troon, making his narrative a similar Cinderella story at a major. https://twitter.com/TheOpen/status/1814702625306321087 Mother Nature has a big say in who sticks around for the weekend at The Open Championship, but for Brown to be at or near the lead in wire-to-wire fashion to this point is nothing short of mind-blowing. Superstars like Rory McIlroy, Bryson DeChambeau , Ludvig Aberg, Viktor Hovland, Cam Smith, and others didn't make the cut. Brown has never been in as pressure-packed of a situation as this in his entire life. Not even close. Perhaps the difficult conditions and "nothing to lose" mentality — not to mention some exceptional-quality golf and excellent putting — have helped him keep his nerve. Given that Lowry lifted the Claret Jug as Champion Golfer of the Year in 2019, it's all the more impressive that he's been the one to fall back on Saturday while Brown and Billy Horschel have moved into a share of the lead entering the back nine. Still a lotta golf left, but no matter what happens from here, salute to Brown for being so steely — and for blowing off some stress-induced steam like any sensible cigarette smoker would.