How Open contender’s caddie saved his round in dying light at Troon

To say that Daniel Brown’s first-ever major championship round on Thursday at the 2024 Open Championship went better than expected would be a major understatement. But it could have come undone on his final few holes if not for some quick thinking and key know-how from his brother-turned-caddie.

In case you missed it, Brown, a 29-year-old DP World Tour pro, fired a six-under 65 in difficult conditions in the opening round at Royal Troon, giving him the first-round lead. At No. 272 in the Official World Golf Ranking, he’s the lowest-ranked golfer to lead a major round since 2016, according to the USA Friday Open telecast.

On Thursday, Brown teed off in the penultimate pairing, setting out at 11:16 a.m. ET, or 4:16 p.m. local time. In Scotland, dusk doesn’t set in until very late in the summers, but not late enough to avoid darkness impacting Brown’s final few holes.

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“It was really dark,” Brown said after his round. “I’ve seen a few clips on the TV, and it’s way darker than what it shows on the telly.”

But Brown had one secret weapon by his side, his caddie, who also happens to be his brother, Ben. An accomplished golfer in his own right, Ben had one key thing Daniel didn’t have: knowledge of the AimPoint green-reading technique. These two facts proved crucial to keeping the Brown boys dialed in the darkness of the Scottish night.

“My brother’s on the bag, so he knows AimPoint,” Daniel said Thursday. “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.”

To oversimply things, AimPoint involves straddling your putting line with both feet to feel the slope on the greens, rather than relying on your eyes to read the putt.

In the dying light Thursday evening, the Browns leaned on Ben’s AimPoint knowledge to not only maintain the strong position they’d gained earlier in the round, but to jump further up the leaderboard. Birdies on 16 and 18 gave them the outright lead.

According to Daniel, Ben has only been on his bag for the last few weeks following his successful qualifying attempt at West Lancashire. Ben played that qualifier himself, but due to nagging injuries he failed to get through to the Open, which is when the idea of him tagging along with his brother came about.

“Yeah, he’s been struggling with a little injury, so he hasn’t been playing much,” Brown said on Thursday. “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.”

You know what would be even nicer for the Brown brothers? Sharing their first major victory together on Sunday night. Fifty-four holes remain to make it happen.