British Open 2024: 3 Instant Reactions to Thursday Leaderboard Scores

Daniel Brown is one of the most unlikely first-round leaders in the history of the British Open.

The 29-year-old Englishman carded a six-under 65 to claim the solo lead after 18 holes at the 2024 Open at Royal Troon.

Brown even being close to contention was a shocking story. He missed the cut at seven of his last eight events on the DP World Tour.

The 272nd-ranked golfer in the world is the highest-ranked player to lead after a round of the major since Andrew Landry at the 2016 U.S. Open.

Brown heads into Friday with a one-stroke lead over 2019 Open champion Shane Lowry. Justin Thomas is three shots back of Brown, while seven others sit at two-under.

Scottie Scheffler still has the best odds to win the tournament at +400, per DraftKings Sportsbook. Brown, meanwhile, has +3000 odds to claim the title.

Here's a look at the top 10 golfers with the best odds to win:

• Scottie Scheffler: +400
• Shane Lowry: +500
• Xander Schauffele: +550
• Justin Thomas: +1400
• Alex Noren: +2800
• Matt Fitzpatrick: +3000
• Collin Morikawa: +3000
• Adam Scott: +3000
• Daniel Brown: +3000
• Tony Finau: +3500

The full leaderboard can be found here on the tournament's website.

No one expected Daniel Brown to be anywhere close to first place at any point of the The Open.

After all, this is a golfer who before last week's Scottish Open put together a string of six straight missed cuts on the DP World Tour.

Brown turned around his form a bit at the Scottish Open with a first-round 65, but he finished in 61st place.

The 29-year-old Englishman took full advantage of the easier conditions at the back end of Thursday's first round to roll in four birdies on the back nine.

Brown finished off his round with a birdie at No. 16 that tied him with Shane Lowry and a birdie at No. 18 that placed him one stroke ahead of the 2019 Open champion.

Brown will not have much time to soak in the first-round lead since he will be back on the course at 11:05 a.m. ET on Friday morning.

While he may not remain at the top, his round proved that low scores are out on the course if the winds die down at Royal Troon.

Long before Brown and Lowry climbed up the leaderboard Justin Thomas sat in first place.

Thomas set the early bar for low scoring at Royal Troon with a three-under 68 in which he birdied the final two holes to get to three-under.

Thomas has not been in great overall form, but he played well last week and held the first-round lead at the Scottish Open.

He drifted well down the leaderboard after the first round last week, but Thomas does have three top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour since The Masters.

The third-place spot is nice for now, btu Thomas needs to focus on his consistency to remain around the top on Friday.

Thomas shot three rounds in the 70s from Friday-Sunday last week and has four rounds of 72 or worse at majors this season.

A low score may be tough to attain on Friday with stronger winds expected in the afternoon, but as long as Thomas does not drop back to even par or worse, he will be in great shape for the weekend.

Xander Schauffele turned in the best opening-round score among the season's previous three major winners.

The 2024 PGA champion finished with a two-under 69, which was one shot better than Masters winner Scottie Scheffler and seven strokes ahead of U.S. Open winner Bryson DeChambeau.

Schauffele only had one blemish on his scorecard from a bogey at the par-three 14th hole. He rebounded from that error with four straight pars to close out his round.

Schauffele's solid first round is a bit of a surprise compared to his overall form at The Open. He has not finished inside the top 10 in five of his six appearances at the season's final major.

He could be poised for a run up the leaderboard on Friday from the morning wave, which is expected to have the more favorable second-round conditions.