The results are in for the first day of British Open, and an unfamiliar name is at the top of the leaderboard. Meet Daniel Brown, who is pacing the field in his major debut. 

A member of the European Tour, also known as the DP World Tour, Brown hasn’t made the cut in six out of his last eight tournaments. But that didn’t stop him from notching a bogey-free 65 in the first round of the Open Championship to take a one-shot lead at Royal Troon.

In just his third PGA Tour start, and after a 61st place finish at the Scottish Open, Brown has taken the golf world by surprise. Whether he continues this level of play on the second day is yet to be determined, but at least for now he can rest easy at the very top of the leaderboard.

The Sporting News has everything you need to know about the English golfer.

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Who is Daniel Brown?

Brown is a golfer on the DP World Tour from Northallerton, England. He is ranked 272nd in the world, but that isn’t stopping him from what could end up as one of the greatest underdog stories in the sport.

The 29-year-old began his professional career in 2017 and has experience playing on both the DP Tour as well as its developmental counterpart, the Challenge Tour, and other lower level competitions. This is Brown’s second year on the DP Tour, but he is playing above his experience level in his first major appearance.

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Daniel Brown nickname

While Brown is making a name for himself at the 2024 Open Championship, his name is quite common. So common, in fact, that he share it with Dan Brown, the author of “The Da Vinci Code.” That left broadcasters making jokes about the famous book on the British Open call, and it morphed into a nickname for the English golfer.

He might be known as “Da Vinci Code” guy for now. But if he manages to stay in first place, Brown could rival his author twin for global domination of the Dan Brown title.

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Daniel Brown golf timeline

Here is everything you need to know about Brown’s professional career, from 2017 onward.

2017

Brown reached the final stage of the European Tour Qualifying School, an annual golf tournament which allows professional golfers to compete for a place on the DP Tour and the Challenge Tour. He finished with a bid to the Challenge Tour for the following year. 

2018

After earning a spot on the Challenge Tour, Brown played in 13 events but made just two cuts. He finished in 142nd place. He also played another lower level tour, the Evolve Pro Tour, and captured two titles.

2019-2021

For the next three years, Brown played on the PGA EuroPro Tour, which is a third-tier tour recognized by the DP Tour. In 2021, he finished fourth in the final Order of Merit, which allowed him to skip the European Tour Qualifying School and qualify automatically for the Challenge Tour once again.

2022

In his second appearance on the Challenge Tour, Brown finished 30th, which did not qualify him for direct promotion to the DP Tour. His best finish of the year was second place at the Hopps Open de Provence in October 2022.

In November, Brown participated in the European Tour Qualifying School once again, but this time he finished third to earn a spot on the official DP Tour for 2023.

2023

In August 2023, Brown won his first event on the DP Tour, the ISPS Handa World Invitational in Northern Ireland. Nevertheless, he finished in 50th for the season after playing in 28 tournaments.

2024

Because he won a DP Tour event in 2023, Brown earned exemption from relegation back to the Challenger Tour and retained his membership on the top flight for the next season. 

Ranked 75th on the Tour heading into the British Open, Brown qualified for his first major via Final Qualifying, which saw the tournament offer 16 spots via 36 holes at four different sites across the United Kingdom. 

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British Open leaderboard

The 2024 British Open features 157 golfers from around the world, but not all of them will make it through past the first two days of play. Only the top 70 players, plus ties, will advance past Friday’s second round.

Following the first round, 81 players were inside the cut line. Notably, Tiger Woods (+8) and Rory Mcllroy (+7) were not in position to advance after round one. Here are the top 10 golfers after the first day of the British Open: