Former champion Shane Lowry and surprise packet Dan Brown have delivered a brilliant late-evening show to warm up the Royal Troon galleries on a windy, squally opening day as they grabbed the early honours at the 152nd British Open.
The ever-popular, bearded Irishman Lowry completed a bogey-free 66 near the conclusion of a long, testing Thursday, only for major debutant Brown, at 9.33pm in the Scottish gloom, to eclipse him with one final birdie at the last to complete another flawless, six-under par round of 65.
It was a dramatic day that may well have already sunk the hopes of other big names like Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy and US Open champ Bryson DeChambeau.
