Open Championship 2022: Who is Barclay Brown? Get to know the surprise amateur on the leaderboard

Golf Digest Middle East — Thu, 14 Jul 2022 13:42:37 +0000

Harry How

By Ryan Herrington
How do you describe the expression on amateur Barclay Brown’s face as he walked off the 18th green Thursday at the Old Course having completed one of the most memorable rounds of his young career? Happy? Overjoyed? Surprised? Relieved?

Maybe a little bit of them all.

Had the 21-year-old Englishman been able to sleep through a fitful night before his 6.46am tee time, his dreams likely wouldn’t have included a four-under 68 in his first Open Championship, at the Home of Golf, with a birdie on the notoriously evil Road Hole. But it happened, and now Brown, a rising senior at Stanford, was trying to absorb the fact he was contending at the 150th Open.

“Very pleased with that. Very enjoyable,” Brown said. “Fortunately, I was able to keep it relatively stress-free.”

That doesn’t mean there was no stress at all. Particularly on the first tee.

“I was unbelievably nervous at the start,” said Brown, who struggled getting rest ahead of the round. “Once I got through the first couple holes, it was nice to calm down a little bit and hit some good shots.”

It’s been a whirlwind few weeks for Brown, who shot a four-under 140 to advance through the 36-hole qualifier at England’s Hollinwell Golf Club. From there, the 2021 GB&I Walker Cupper joined the English national team for practice at Royal St George’s, which wasn’t a bad place for him to work on his game on a links course ahead of coming to St Andrews.

Upon arriving in Scotland on Sunday, Brown, his family and girlfriend have been staying in a house in town, but Brown hasn’t done much beyond the course. Trying to prepare and stay focused. And handle expectations.

Mind you, there is a little bit of a reputation to uphold for Brown, who hails from South Yorkshire near Sheffield, an area in England that has produced a few recent major winners, Danny Willett at the 2016 Masters and Matt Fitzpatrick taking the US Open title in June. Fitzpatrick sent Brown a message after he qualified at Hollinwell and has been an inspiration of sorts.

Brown’s highlight came on the 17th hole, where he hit what he described as the best drive of the day, setting up a 131-yard approach with a gap wedge that he skipped on to the green. From there, he holed a “lucky” 63-footer for the rare birdie on the Road Hole.

“Changed my line further left on 18 knowing I had that birdie,” he joked afterward.

Brown, No. 46 in the most recent World Amateur Golf Ranking, is coming off a college season in which he had runner-up finishes at the Pac-12 Championship and the NCAA Regional. For his career, he’s got a win (2021 Cowboy Classic) and eight top-10 finishes along with a 71.71 stroke average.

The 68 on Thursday puts him in nice company. In 2015 at St Andrews, American Jordan Niebrugge shot a 67 to sit two off the lead. The lowest round shot by an amateur in an Open was Tom Lewis’ 65 in 2011 at Royal St George’s.

At St. Andrews seven years ago, another amateur, Paul Dunne, made headlines when he shared the lead entering the final round only to stumble with a closing 78.

“I just wanted to play the best I can,” Brown said. “I obviously want to win the silver medal [for low amateur] but beyond that just put four good rounds together.”

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Stenson named European Tour ‘Golfer of the Year’

Kent Gray — Tue, 13 Dec 2016 14:36:30 +0000

Henrik Stenson’s epic 2016 has been capped with the European Tour ‘Golfer of the Year’ title.

The accolade was bestowed on the 40-year-old Tuesday at the climax of a year in which the likeable Swede has claimed the BMW International Open, The Open Championship, Olympic silver in Rio and his second Race to Dubai (order of merit) title last month.

“It has certainly been the best season of my career and to now be voted the European Tour Golfer of the Year for a second time is a fantastic way to bring the curtain down on it,” said Stenson who first won the honour in 2013, the year of his first Race to Dubai triumph at Jumeirah Golf Estates.

“There have been some great golfers who have won this award, and many more who just missed out over the years, so to receive it twice now is a huge honour.

“You can argue that my consistency was a touch higher in 2013, but in 2016 I produced my best performances at key moments, so it will go down as the best year I have had and this award is a very nice way to end it.”

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Stenson’s battle with Phil Mickelson for the Claret Jug at Royal Troon in July was undoubtedly the world No.4’s 2016 highlight. He closed out one of greatest duels in golfing history with a stunning 63 – the joint lowest final round in a major by a champion – to win by three shots, eclipsing the record low score of a major championship with a winning total of -20, 264.

European Tour CEO Keith Pelley, who awarded Stenson honorary life membership of the tour at November’s DP World Tour Championship, described 2016 as “undoubtedly a memorable one for European Tour members around the world, with many so achievements to celebrate.” Those achievements included Danny Willett’s US Masters win, Justin Rose’s Olympic gold medal and Alex Noren’s four late season wins to surge into the world top-10.

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“However, Henrik Stenson not only produced one of the standout performances of the year, or indeed any year, to win the Claret Jug at Royal Troon, but he also displayed an impressive level of consistency across the entire season to win the Race to Dubai,” Pelley said.

“Furthermore, Henrik consistently reminded us what a magnificent ambassador he is for the game of golf, and he is therefore a thoroughly deserving winner of the European Tour Golfer of the Year award for the second time in his career.”

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Open Championship 2022: Who is Barclay Brown? Get to know the surprise amateur on the leaderboard

Stenson named European Tour ‘Golfer of the Year’