THE 152ND OPEN

July 19, 2024

Daniel Brown

Mixed Zone

DANIEL BROWN: My expectations were -- I mean, I was trying to kind of rein myself in a little bit after yesterday's score. Going out there with it being a lot windier, knowing that 72, 73, 74 actually wasn't too bad. So, yeah, it was a lot tougher.

Q. Did you get much sleep last night?

DANIEL BROWN: I did. I managed to get quite a bit. I managed to get seven or eight hours in. I was knackered. I don't think I've had a late finish like that in a long time.

Q. How challenging were the weather conditions with the wind, particularly on the back nine?

DANIEL BROWN: It was certainly three or four shots harder, I would have said. Even the front nine played a lot stronger, and then the back, you would think going back downwind, it would make it easier, but it was so firm that it was a proper struggle to try and hold onto some of the greens really.

Q. Can you tell us about your qualifying? Is it true that you had to hit like a 20-foot putt? Can you talk us through that situation?

DANIEL BROWN: Yeah, I had to hole a 20-foot putt on the last hole on 18 on the qualifying. I kind of knew, if I two-putted, I would have had a good chance of a playoff anyway. So it was one of those where I could have a bit of a run at it knowing that I would still be in a playoff.

Q. How does this course compare to the course that you grew up playing?

DANIEL BROWN: It's quite a lot different. It's a lot different. I grew up playing parkland golf where it's soft and very green and plenty of trees and stuff.

It is a lot different but my answer, sort of growing up, my amateur career involved a lot of links golf playing in the UK.

I've had a lot of time out away from sort of the links scene, but come back and I feel comfortable on it again.

Q. Do you feel like a very patriotic Englishman? Because we're looking for a sporting hero this week following the football. I wonder if you could tell us what it means to you to be flying the flag and to be up with somebody like Justin Rose?

DANIEL BROWN: Obviously Justin Rose is up there, and he has been in a lot of majors, so he'll be used to it.

Yeah, I'm proud of what I've done, and hopefully I can continue and sort of still be lingering around on Sunday.

Q. How did it feel this morning when you woke up leading The Open? Did it feel any different?

DANIEL BROWN: It didn't, to be honest. I played enough sort of golf to know that 18 holes isn't -- it obviously puts you in a good situation, but still having 54 holes left, it's a bit of a mammoth climb really when you're playing in conditions like that.

So I sort of knew that in the blink of an eye, you could drop a few shots, and then you're kind of, not out of it, but yeah, it's a long old week, and you've just got to kind of stick in and hang around and hopefully you can still get out on Sunday.

Q. Could you explain the change in form?

DANIEL BROWN: I wouldn't say I've actually had a change in form. I think it's just a case of results really. I had a bit of a knee injury and had a few weeks out and haven't really gotten going since.

It more I wasn't playing poorly. It was more just rustiness really from having six, seven weeks off. So I feel like the results have been coming. I've just had to stay patient, and I wasn't very patient when I came back from injury at all.

Q. These names are way before your time, but do you know the names Ben Curtis and Todd Hamilton from this tournament?

DANIEL BROWN: Yes.

Q. What can you tell us about those two guys?

DANIEL BROWN: Were they first-time winners? We'll see. We'll see. I'm not going to say too much.

Q. What did you do to switch off from golf last night?

DANIEL BROWN: Thankfully, they've got a ping pong table in the players lounge. So we'll probably have a few games of that.

Q. Who did you play?

DANIEL BROWN: I've got a few of my mates here, and they've got players lounge passes. We've got a house like ten minutes down the road, and I've got a few of my mates staying as well. They'll do a good job in keeping my mind off of it.

Q. You seem a very pragmatic golfer. You don't seem stressed on the course. Tell us about that. What's your mentality, your mindset?

DANIEL BROWN: I've always been quite laid back really. I think I am a bit of a realist as well. I know I'm not going to start getting ahead of myself and thinking that, oh, my God, I'm leading The Open or I'm second in The Open or whatever. There's still 36 holes left. I might have a good round tomorrow, and then I might have a stinky round on Sunday. You just don't know.

Q. Some of the golf writers have had a bit of fun because of your famous name. Like you've cracked the code or that. Is this the sort of thing you've experienced before?

DANIEL BROWN: Yeah, I've had that a lot. Yeah, the whole Da Vinci Code and all that kind of thing. Hopefully, I can start making a bit of a name for myself, and people will say that to him, are you the golfer?

Q. What does it mean to have your brother on the bag? How often do you win when you play head to head, and how often does he win?

DANIEL BROWN: It's been really good. He's been on the bag for the last few weeks. He's a good golfer himself that plays for England and won the English Amateur last year.

It's nice to have him on the bag for the last few weeks. Him being a good golfer himself, I can kind of trust his golfing opinion. So, yeah, it's nice to walk down the fairways of The Open with my brother next to me.

Q. How closely were you watching the leaderboard throughout the day? There were a few times when you were looking at the scoreboard.

DANIEL BROWN: You always have a bit of a glance. They're massive, so you can't really miss them too much. But having a glance doesn't really -- it doesn't really bother me too much. I'm not going to go out and think, oh, I'm two back or I'm one back, I need to chase it.

I'll just keep doing what I'm doing, and hopefully that's good enough going into the weekend as well.

Q. Any famous names this morning that you ran into?

DANIEL BROWN: I've not really seen many guys this morning. I've kind of -- it's fairly quiet with a one-tee start. We're sort of used to a two-tee start and have it on DP World Tour. So it's a little bit busier. The one-tee start kind of spreads everyone out a little bit. I've seen a couple guys that I'm friends with that it's been nice to have a little catch-up this morning, but nothing too major yet.

Q. None of the superstars in the locker room or anything?

DANIEL BROWN: I haven't seen anyone, no. Obviously they're TV groups, they've probably been out an hour and a half, two hours before, and then sort of vice versa the other way. So I haven't really seen anyone.

Q. Do you think you'll have some logos on your vest there at the end?

DANIEL BROWN: Potentially. Yeah, we'll see. I'm not really thinking about that, but yeah, we'll see.

Q. What would you have been if you hadn't been a professional golfer?

DANIEL BROWN: Not a clue. I dropped out of college after three, four months, so I was pretty hopeless at the academic side of things. No idea, something to do with golf. It was always kind of going to be golf.

What it was going to be, I don't know, whether it would have been coaching maybe. But yeah, who knows? Hopefully I don't have to think about that.

Q. What were you studying at university before you dropped out?

DANIEL BROWN: I was at Richmond College, sixth form, so it was just like a local college sixth form near me. I just felt like it was long days and my golf was kind of taking a bit of a backseat, and I was pretty hopeless what I was doing at college, so yeah.

Q. How did your parents feel about that at the time?

DANIEL BROWN: I think they were all right. I managed to get myself a little part time job. This is obviously when I was like 17, 18. They weren't too unhappy about it.

Q. Did you watch The Open that Shane Lowry won?

DANIEL BROWN: I did, yeah. I make a habit of watching The Open. I love watching it. It's great that you have the coverage right from start to finish. It's quite unique in that sense. Obviously being from the UK and it being such a big tournament in the UK and worldwide, it's something that I've always watched, yeah.

Q. What stands out in your mind about his play?

DANIEL BROWN: Just grit and determination, which he always seems to have. Hopefully I'll get to witness that firsthand tomorrow and try and hopefully go toe to toe with him.

Q. Have you read any of your namesake's books?

DANIEL BROWN: I haven't. I'm not a big book reader.

Q. Have you seen the movie?

DANIEL BROWN: No.

Q. Do you prefer Dan or Daniel?

DANIEL BROWN: Dan. Daniel is usually when I'm getting told off by my mom and dad.