DP World Tour player Dan Brown on his major breakthrough at Royal Troon, winning on tour in his rookie year, and the ups and downs of professional golf at the highest level
For those following from the outside, Dan Brown’s progress may appear to have come easily in the last three years – but for the Romanby-based 29-year-old, it hasn’t just been a case letting success come to him.
Having turned pro in 2017, it took four years for the Yorkshireman – an England international and English Amateur winner – to progress from the EuroPro Tour to the Challenge Tour. He went on to finish 30th in the Challenge Tour order of merit in 2022, just outside the cut-off to earn a DP World Tour card for 2023. With nothing to lose, he went to the Final Stage of Q School in Spain, shot 26 under-par for six rounds, and made the step up to the main tour.
“The progression has been quick since getting off EuroPro, and I suppose that might make it look like it’s been easy,” says Dan. “Every golfer, at every level, knows the game doesn’t give you a steady trajectory. You have bumps, and I experienced that after turning pro. I’ve then experienced it again this season with a knee injury.
“If you’d said I’d be where I am today, having been nowhere on EuroPro 18 months before I got my main tour card, I wouldn’t have believed you.”
© Keven Gibson, KG PhotographyJust four years after he took six months out of the game and contemplated leaving the professional ranks, Dan has become a well-established player on the DP World Tour – a world away from travelling around the UK on the mini tour circuit in his early 20s.
“There are really two key moments in that journey – moving coaches to Brian Ridley at the end of 2019, and deciding to take things seriously after Covid.
“Brian has been great for me, and I’ve made steady progress since making that change. I work in quite a simple way and he gets that. Once you get to a certain level, you’re there technically and it’s about building confidence. Brian has been great at doing that.
“Having finished 30-something on EuroPro, I’d packed it in for six months and was looking for jobs in 2020. I woke up one day, looked myself in the mirror and said: ‘You’re 25 years old and you’ve not got a lot’. I’d always wanted to be a golfer, but I didn’t dedicate myself to it. I made a lot of changes after Covid, got my head down and did some proper hard work.”
That hard work led to a rapid rise through the ranks and on to a stellar rookie season on the DP World Tour in 2023, which included a win at the ISPS HANDA World Invitational at Galgorm Castle in Northern Ireland.
“Winning was obviously the big highlight of last season,” says Dan. “I would never have imagined what happened last year. You believe in yourself, and think that you’re good enough to be there, but deep down you always have questions. To win on tour, and get everything that comes with that, was amazing.”
With the win came two years of playing status on tour and the chance to build the next stage of his career. Dan would go on to finish 50th in the Race to Dubai in 2023, make 24 cuts in 28 events including a top-10 finish in the co-sanctioned Barbusol Championship in the US, and play in the season-ending DP World Tour Championship.
“Being a winner, and securing my card, didn’t hit me until I got to the Tour Championship. When I signed my card on Sunday, I burst into tears.
“I don’t tend to show a lot of emotion, but it all came out when I could finally breathe at end of the year.”
Building on that success in his second year on tour did not come as easily in the first half of the 2024 season, as a recurring knee injury hampered his performances. While Dan had two top-10s – in Mauritius in December and South Africa in March – he admits the first half of the year didn’t live up to his expectations.
“The first few months of the season were good, and I was carrying on from last year,” he says. “After Qatar in February, I had a few issues with my knee but kept on playing. I had an MRI scan just before going to Singapore and they found a cyst that gets inflamed and makes it painful to walk. I know it isn’t going to get any worse, so it’s just about being aware of it and changing how I rest and recover to manage it for the time being.”
“I missed three events in Asia after that and had seven weeks off in total. That derailed me a bit and I just couldn’t get going again,” adds Dan, who missed six cuts in a row on his return.
Despite a mid-season dip in results, Dan knew good golf was not far away when we met in early July at his home club, not far from his home in Bedale.
“I’m more comfortable now for sure, and I feel like I belong,” he says on his second year on tour. “I’m also a better player now. It can be hard for people looking at scoreboards to see how close the margins are out there. Having played through the levels, I’d say DP World Tour level is very different to everything else – there aren’t many times you get away with a mid-level shot.
“I was a good amateur, but turning pro was a big change and I didn’t expect it to be. Having moved from Challenge to DP, I’d say the jump is almost as big again. The courses are harder and the level you have to be at on every single shot is higher. Add in playing against the best players in the world and it becomes quite easy to miss a few cuts when you’re not right on it.”
While his game wasn’t where he wanted it to be, Dan had the highlight of his 2024 season to look forward to –The 152nd Open at Royal Troon.
© Luke Walker/ R&A/R&A via Getty ImagesHaving qualified at West Lancashire with a five under-par total, he played the Scottish Open at Renaissance in the preceding week – making the cut and finishing 61st – before heading across Scotland to Troon with his brother and caddy, Ben.
Struggling for form since the spring, Dan found some of his best golf under the biggest spotlight – holding the lead at The Open and ultimately finishing in a tie for 10th place to book his place at Royal Portrush for the 153rd Open next year.
He took the lead on day one following a brilliant six under-par round, then shot 72 on day two to share second place with Justin Rose going into the weekend. Playing with overnight leader Shane Lowry on Saturday, the pair were tied for the lead after 16 holes – before a bogey, double-bogey finish in the toughest conditions moved Dan into the fourth-last group for the final round alongside world number one Scottie Scheffler. On Sunday, he followed an up and down front nine with a solid level-par back nine to finish the tournament at even-par alongside Adam Scott and Matthew Jordan – as Xander Schauffele shot six under-par on the final day to win his second major of the year.
“If you had told me I’d finish in a tie for 10th at the start of the week, obviously I would have been very pleased,” he said following his final round. “It’s nice to have a good result under my belt again.”
Having returned home for the short break in the DP World Tour schedule, and taken a couple of days to reflect on his performance, he adds: “I’m obviously delighted with the result and it’s great to get a chance to go again at Portrush next year.
“I feel like I could have done more if I’m totally honest. I struggled all week with the wind off the right side on the front nine, but I can hardly complain! It was fantastic to have that experience.
“I tend to be really chilled out, so being in contention at The Open didn’t get to me. You can put yourself under loads of pressure every week, and build a game of golf up to such much more than it is, but you have got to be able to get on with it.
“We play with big names every week and while it’s of course going to be different when it’s Shane Lowry or Scottie Scheffler next to you on the first tee on the weekend of a major, it’s all about getting on with it and focussing on your own game.”
Dan posted an opening round 65 in one of the last groups of the day – a round he admits is still a bit of a blur – then held his own with some of the world’s best and found the form he had been searching for.
“I just kept rolling with it on Thursday, not thinking too much,” he says. “I was just trying to not get in my own way and overthink things – just sticking to the gameplan. A couple of long putts went in and the wind dropped late on, but playing in near-darkness made the last couple of holes more interesting.”
After a steady round on Friday, Dan found himself in the final group on Saturday in the worst weather conditions.
“I was a bit unlucky to not be leading into Sunday to be honest,” he says after bad breaks on the first and 18th saw him have to play shots standing in bunkers while his ball lay on the fairway. “It was a bit disappointing to grind it out and then finish bogey, double-bogey. Who knows what happens if I’m in one of the last groups?”
“Sunday was just a struggle with the wind off the right on the front nine again. I didn’t start well and played myself out of it, but I’m happy with how I ground it out and got the top-10 – and having had the chance to play with and learn a bit from the best player in the world.”
The result at Troon lifted Dan to 56th in the Race to Dubai and gave him the result he had been searching for this summer.
“It’s exciting to be looking forward again,” he says. “I want to stay sharp at home while we have a few weeks off, and then be raring to go again in Prague. I’m ready to kick on and get some more results in the second half of season.
“I’m not a big goal setter – I did that in the early years of my career and not meeting the goals was quite damaging mentally. I’ve learned all you can control is the next golf shot and my focus is just on getting better across the board. From there it’s a case of just letting the results come.”
It can be easy to boil a golfer’s performances down to just numbers, but they tend to tell very little of each individual’s story. As Dan says, golf is not consistent, and progressing presents many peaks and troughs. The skill all the best players possess is making the most of the peaks and shallowing out the troughs. If you can come off six missed cuts and then turn in a top-10 finish in your first major, you’re onto a winning formula.
