During his opening round at The Open at Royal Troon, golfer Daniel Brown was caught on video allegedly littering on the course. The incident occurred as the Englishman was in exceptional form, finishing the day at the top of the leaderboard with a score of six under-par.
Despite his recent struggles on the DP World Tour, where he made only one cut in his last eight tournaments, Brown managed to qualify for his first major at The Open by securing a spot at West Lancashire earlier this month. His previous performance included a tie for 61st at the Scottish Open.
Brown’s opening round at The Open was a display of dominance. After teeing off at 4:16 PM on Thursday, he consistently shot birdies, defying expectations. However, amidst his stellar performance, Brown attracted attention for a less commendable reason. Caught on camera, the 29-year-old appeared to exhale a puff of smoke and then threw what seemed to be a cigarette butt into the rough. The footage quickly circulated on social media platforms like Reddit.
Reflecting on his performance after his round of 65, Brown expressed his excitement: “Yeah, amazing, isn’t it? I was nervous on the first 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.”
He continued, “I was watching The Open before I went out on TV in the house, and you’re kind of looking at how tough it is. There are only a few guys at one under, two 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.”
Despite his strong start, Brown faced challenges in his second round on Friday, finishing with the worst round among the top eight players with a score of one over-par. Heading into the third day of action, he was tied in second place with Justin Rose, both trailing Shane Lowry by two shots.
Reflecting on his performance, Brown stated, “It was always going to be tricky to back up what I did yesterday. The conditions didn’t really allow that, so it was just very much managing your expectations. I know I’m capable. A lot of people probably didn’t know who I was coming into this week, but I feel good and at home on links golf.”
As the tournament progresses, all eyes will be on Brown to see if he can maintain his form and contend for the championship, despite the controversy surrounding his conduct on the course.