THE 152ND OPEN

July 18, 2024

Daniel Brown

Mixed Zone

Q. Do you have a picture of your name on top of the leaderboard?

DANIEL BROWN: No, I don't have a picture, no.

Q. Are you going to get one?

DANIEL BROWN: I'm sure some people will get them, but not me. I'm going to try and sort of keep my feet on the ground a bit and take on the job again tomorrow.

Q. What a day, what an experience.

DANIEL BROWN: Yeah, amazing, isn't it? I was nervous on the 1st tee, obviously it being my first major, but I hit a few nice shots early, so I kind of got settled into the round pretty quick.

Q. To shoot a score like that, does it exceed your expectations?

DANIEL BROWN: Yeah, obviously it did, very much so. I was watching The Open before I went out this morning on TV in the house, and you're kind of looking at how tough it is. There's only a few guys at 1-under, 2-under, and you obviously know it's going to be tough.

Thankfully, the wind died a little bit for our back nine, so it got a bit more scorable, I think.

Q. What are your realistic hopes when you're driving in today?

DANIEL BROWN: I didn't really -- I wouldn't say I had any really. I just kind of try to go day by day. I'm not a huge goal setter, to be honest.

I was playing well leading up to the tournament, so scores haven't really reflected it recently. But, yeah, I felt comfortable and probably a bit more calm than you normally would be with it being your first major.

Q. I assume you didn't think going into the second round with keeping your feet on the ground?

DANIEL BROWN: No, but it's obviously a nice position to be in. Yeah, enjoy it, but just look forward to tomorrow, yeah.

Q. Was it dark when you finished?

DANIEL BROWN: It was really dark. I've seen a few clips on the TV, and it's way darker than what it shows on the telly.

I was having to -- my brother's on the bag, so he knows AimPoint. I was struggling on them last few holes to sort of like see the slopes and stuff on the green. So it was hard to read putts, but thankfully he knows AimPoint, so I was kind of putting my trust in him for the last sort of like two or three holes.

Q. What's your brother's name?

DANIEL BROWN: Ben.

Q. Do you have any moments going down that back nine when you looked at the leaderboard and go, oh, I'm leading my first major here?

DANIEL BROWN: I sort of did, but then I saw Shane obviously go to 5, and I was still stuck at 4. I was kind of like, oh, I want to push on a bit. Yeah, that was the only thought I really had.

I was looking at leaderboards, but I wasn't really thinking too much about where I was. I just kind of wanted to try and catch Shane if I could.

Q. Rewind three weeks ago and you weren't even going to be here at that point. You holed a putt to win at West Lancs. What does that mean to you now looking back on that moment in that final game?

DANIEL BROWN: Yeah, huge. You don't realize how big it's going to be. I was kind of -- I went into the West Lancs knowing that I was in the PGA Tour event in America in Lake Tahoe. So it was kind of a win-win for me. I would get to play on the PGA Tour or play here.

Yeah, I saw it as a positive.

Q. You have links experience (indiscernible) and making fast starts as well?

DANIEL BROWN: Yeah, I used to hate it. As an amateur, obviously you play it all the time, and you get a little bit fed up of hitting good shots and ended up in pot bunkers sometimes, which is the way it is. But I've found, since I've not really been playing too much links golf, that I've enjoyed it more. I've enjoyed the challenge more and the wind more and the firm conditions.

Q. (Indiscernible). It's like a weird links journey, isn't it?

DANIEL BROWN: Yeah, that was quite linksy. It was fairly linksy over there. Just felt really comfortable when I was at West Lancs when I was qualifying.

Then obviously last week is a links event. Played nicely there, just had a poor finish really on Sunday.

Yeah, that's good.

Q. Let me ask you a cheesy question. When you were a kid watching The Open, who did you admire most? Who was the guy you wanted to win? Who was your guy?

DANIEL BROWN: It is probably, not surprisingly, Tiger Woods, yeah.

Q. You mentioned your brother was on the bag. What did that mean to you to have him there today? He just debuted in a major anyway, but after all that as well.

DANIEL BROWN: He's been caddieing for me the last few weeks. He didn't caddie at West Lancs. He was playing himself in the final qualifying.

He did well in the morning but then he started pulling in the afternoon, so he retred. I think he saw that I was up towards the top, so he came over and watched the last few holes at West Lancs.

Yeah, he's been struggling * with a little injury, so he hasn't been playing much. I said to him, I like having him on the bag. He's good at reading greens, and he's obviously a good golfer himself. So he can give good advice.

To share sort of my first major with him on the bag is nice.

Q. Obviously a lot of moments today that stood out, but you holed a helluva lot of putts today. I think you're leading footage putt-wise. Is that a strength of yours normally?

DANIEL BROWN: It has been recently. I've changed a couple of things, which I've become a lot more comfortable on the greens. It was a strength of mine last season, but it hasn't really been this season. So it's been nice to find that sort of department in the game a bit.

Obviously it helps. You hole par putts, clutch par putts, and it keeps the momentum going. Thankfully to that, I managed to hole a couple of long ones on 10 and 11.

Q. Are you the kind of person who finds it difficult to fall asleep if you're leading a tournament?

DANIEL BROWN: I have done in the past, but probably like two, three years ago. I know there's still 54 holes left. There's a long way to go. I don't think I'll struggle to sleep tonight after that late finish.

Q. Reasonbably quick turnaround because you're out again tomorrow morning, so mid-morning. What will this evening and tomorrow morning entail now?

DANIEL BROWN: Food, sleep, and then I'll be back down probably about half 7:00 in the morning and get physio. I feel a little bit of a niggle in my back. So get that sorted and just go through the normal routine.

Q. Expecting slightly bigger crowds watching you tomorrow from what you've had at the end?

DANIEL BROWN: I think just the time of day. I always kind of knew the Friday was going to be busier. It might be a little bit busier than what it maybe was going to be.

But, no, it will be nice. It will be nice to have a proper Open, major championship experience tomorrow.