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Daniel Brown may have been among those who could not match Xander Schauffele’s exceptional final-round display at Royal Troon, but his top-10 finish may well prove transformative for his career.
Brown, who entered the final day one shot off the lead in his first ever major, is set to take home £246,000 in prize money – after a life-changing week for the 29-year-old.
His previous highest prize was just short of £200,000 when he won the ISPS Handa World Invitational in 2023. That was his only DP World Tour win so far, but his finish at The Open will also have a huge effect on his career, especially in the short term.
Perhaps most importantly, a top-10 finish guarantees players a place in next year’s tournament, so Brown will be at Royal Portrush in 2025 looking to improve on this year’s finish.
If he continues putting in impressive performances, he may also be able to earn a place on the PGA Tour as he climbs into the top 50 of the DP World Tour’s Race to Dubai. He could potentially secure a PGA Tour card if he finishes among the DP’s top-10 non-exempt finishers, and his next tournament will come at the Czech Masters Prague next month.
Brown was ranked at 272 in the world before the start of play on Thursday, but his impressive performance – in which he shot 65, 72, 73, and 74 to finish on level par – means that he is in line to pick up 14 ranking points. His best ever position was 187, but he may be able to break into the top 150.
Though he ended up falling nine shots short of eventual winner Schauffele, Brown said that “when I reflect on it, I’ll be very pleased, I would have thought”.
“If you would have told me that [he would finish in the top ten] at the start of the week, obviously I would have been very pleased.
“Portrush was in my head a little bit towards the back nine. Obviously I took myself out of contention quite early, so that was playing on my mind a little bit. But it still didn’t really affect me in terms of hitting shots.
“This is quite big for my confidence,” he added.
“I had seven weeks out with an injury with my knee not long ago, and then I haven’t really got firing since. It’s nice to have a good result under my belt again.”
