Brown leads Lowry by 1 after first round at The Open

Daniel Brown's first career round at the Open Championship is one he'll never forget as the 29-year-old birdied the final hole at Royal Troon to hold the overnight lead.

Brown's bogey-free 65 on Thursday was one shot better than Shane Lowry and three clear of Justin Thomas in third place. It's a stunning display from a man who missed seven of his last eight cuts on the DP World Tour, with a 61st-place finish his best showing in that span.

Xander Schauffele headlines a group of players at 2-under, while World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and five-time major winner Brooks Koepka are among those four off the pace.

To call Brown's spot on the leaderboard surprising would be one of the understatements of the summer, as the Englishman's debut at The Open also marks his first-ever major. In addition, he's in the middle of a very poor run of form with just one top-20 finish on the DP World Tour this calendar year. One would never know it from his performance so far as he navigated a difficult Royal Troon with ease in the second-to-last group of the day.

Lowry - who looked to be the likely overnight leader until Brown's late charge - was a wizard on the greens, making 126 feet of putts and leading the field by over half a shot in strokes gained: putting. Lowry sits outside the top 100 on the PGA TOUR in that category, but said afterward that a scouting trip to Royal Troon helped him greatly.

"I came here two weeks ago, and sometimes I struggle when I come back here from playing a season on the PGA TOUR with the speed of the greens, but for some reason I got here, it was my first golf outside of America in a while, and I played a couple of practice rounds here, and I was really happy with how my speed was," Lowry said in his press conference after the round. "My speed control was very good, and I seen my lines great. I feel like links greens, when you start to see your lines, the hole feels quite big, so it felt like that today, and long may it continue."

Thomas is among the best wind players on the planet, and the other major champion in the top three places shone in blustery conditions on the western coast of Scotland in Thursday's early wave. His 3-under 68 was almost good enough to hold the first-round lead for the second straight week in Scotland before Lowry and Brown got past him late in the day.

While PGA Championship winner Schauffele headlines the group at 2-under, a host of major champions lurking at 1-under will keep Lowry's attention. Scheffler eagled the 16th and birded No. 18 to get under par on his round, while Koepka poured in four birdies in a row on the opening nine to mount his charge. Matthew Fitzpatrick and Adam Scott also sit within shouting distance.

The same can't be said for a number of big names who struggled mightily on Day 1, highlighted by the star duo of Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau from June's U.S. Open. McIlroy fought his swing all day and made double-bogeys on both of Troon's signature holes - Nos. 8 and 11 - to post a 7-over 78. DeChambeau got off to a horrendous start with a 6-over 42 on the opening nine before closing with a 1-under score on the back to shoot 76. Both players will need to go low Friday afternoon to secure a spot on the weekend.