Daniel Brown Shines at British Open at Royal Troon

English golfer Daniel Brown, 29, made a stunning run to the top of the leaderboard on Thursday at the British Open at Royal Troon, leading Irishman Shane Lowry by a single stroke heading into Round 2.

To say Brown hasn’t had recent success heading into the Open would be an understatement. He finished 61st at his most recent tournament, the Genesis Scottish Open, and before that, missed the cut or withdrew in six of his last seven tournaments.

“I know if I play well, I can compete with most, so hopefully it carries on throughout the week,” Brown said after his round. It was also an encouraging start for Justin Thomas (-3), who’s looking for his first major victory since 2022.

Further down the leaderboard, it was a first round to forget for some of golf’s most notable names: Tiger Woods (+8), Rory McIlroy (+7) and Bryson DeChambeau (+5) all struggled on the links.

USA TODAY Sports covered all things Open Championship, including highlights, leaderboard updates and more below.

BRITISH OPEN LEADERBOARD:
Last updated at 4:40 p.m. ET

1. Daniel Brown, -6 (65)
2. Shane Lowry, -5 (66)
3. Justin Thomas, -3 (68)
T4. Alex Noren, -2 (69)
T4. Nicolai Hojgaard, -2 (69)
T4. Justin Rose, -2 (69)

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Masters winner Scottie Scheffler has appeared at The Open three times in his career, with his highest finish coming during his 2021 debut at the event. Scheffler finished in a tie for eighth place that year at Royal St. George’s.

Scheffler has one of the later tee times of Thursday’s first round. He’ll get started at 10:10 a.m. ET in a group with Jordan Spieth and Cameron Young. England‘s Justin Rose parred every hole on the back nine to complete a 2-under 69 and put him in a tie for the lead among golfers who’ve finished their rounds.

The 2013 U.S. Open champion carded a pair of birdies in his bogey-free round. He joins Sweden‘s Alex Noren and Norway‘s Nicolai Hojgaard as the clubhouse leaders − with six others still on the course − at 2-under.

Rose, 43, has several near-misses in majors over his career, including a tie for second behind Francesco Molinari at the 2018 Open Championship at Carnoustie.

Tiger Woods is a three-time winner at The Open, pulling off victories in 2000, 2005 and 2006. Tiger’s first appearance at The Open was in 1995, when he finished in a tie for 68th place. He’s only appeared at the tournament once during the past four years, and that was in 2022 when he missed the cut.

The last time he made the cut was in 2018 when he finished in a tie for sixth place at Carnoustie in Scotland. Woods is set to play his first two rounds at Royal Troon with PGA champ Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay. Their group tees off at 9:37 a.m. ET.

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After a brief stumble early on the back nine, American Justin Thomas finished with a flurry to take the outright lead with a 3-under 68.

“I’m very satisfied. Not as satisfied as I’ll be when I’m in sweatpants and a sweatshirt this afternoon on the couch,” Thomas told NBC‘s interviewer Cara Banks “This is a proper Scottish day and it’s nice to get off to a good start.”

Thomas birdied five of his first 10 holes at Royal Troon, including the famous “Postage Stamp” par-3 eighth to briefly take a two-shot lead. But he gave those shots right back when his driver betrayed him, resulting in a double bogey on 12 and bogey on 13.

But the two-time major champion (PGA 2017, 2022) rallied with birdies on the final two holes to take a one-stroke lead over three others already in the clubhouse – and several others still on the course.