Eighteen holes sit between Dan Brown and one of the greatest sporting upsets of our time.
Before a ball was struck at Royal Troon, little was known by anyone outside golf’s anorak contingent about this 750-1 outsider. No wonder; Brown arrived in Ayrshire as the 272nd ranked player in the world. His last eight results include one withdrawal, six missed cuts and a tie for 61st. How was anybody to know this bearded, fag-smoking, son of a Yorkshire pig farmer could come within one Open round of bringing home the bacon? There are shades of Todd Hamilton, who won at Troon in 2004. Hamilton had, unlike Brown, at least competed in a handful of majors before he landed at the oldest of them all. Brown should be completely ill at ease with this environment. Instead, he has taken to it like a pig in …
