Dan Brown had mixed emotions after his memorable Open debut ended with him in a share of tenth place.

He went into the final day at Royal Troon with a chance of claiming an unlikely victory after an outstanding first three rounds.

The 29-year-old from Northallerton, a member at Romanby, led after shooting 65 on Thursday and stayed near the top of the leaderboard all week.

He had held the outright lead until an unfortunate double bogey on the 18th hole of his third round, which finished in brutal conditions on Saturday.

Playing alongside world number one Scottie Scheffler on Sunday, Brown bogeyed his first hole before bouncing back with a brilliant birdie. But four dropped shots in the next five holes saw Brown fall out of contention and he made the turn in 39.

Despite that disappointment, Brown got himself back in track with a solid back nine and got back in the red with a birdie on the 15th. He bogeyed the last to finish level par but it was still enough to secure a top ten finish, a quite stunning result and undoubtedly one of the stories of the week at Troon.

He eventually finished on level par, nine strokes behind winner Xander Schauffele.

Brown said: “If you would have told me this at the start of the week, obviously I would have been very pleased, but I wanted to do better and be higher up the board.

“At the minute there’s probably a little bit more disappointment but when I reflect on it, I’ll be obviously very pleased, I would have thought.

“But it was just the front nine – I didn’t quite get it going all week, really.”

Brown has stayed in a house near Troon with some friends over the course of the week and credited them with helping him keep his feet on the ground during his run in the tournament.

He admitted the atmosphere could be livelier on Sunday evening.

He said: “Yes, I can get on the drink now!”

Ranked 272nd in the world coming in, he didn’t even know he was going to be making his Open debut until a fortnight ago when he made a 20-foot putt on the last hole of final qualifying.

He now has a full year's notice ahead of his next Open appearance, for he knows he’ll be back next year due to his stunning 2024 performance.

Born in Northallerton in October 1994, Brown is part of a talented golfing family, with his brother, Ben, also a keen golfer. Ben, who played in Final Open Qualifying at West Lancashire himself last month, caddied for his brother at Troon.

The older Brown is a member at Romanby Golf Club, near Northallerton, with the course having been a keen supporter of his development. He has also spent a lot of time playing at Bedale Golf Club.

As a talented amateur, he competed in the renowned Brabazon Trophy when it was staged in the North East at Seaton Carew, won the Dutch Junior Open in 2015 and also claimed the prestigious English Amateur title in 2016 along with the North of England Open Amateur Championship.

After reaching the final stage of European Tour Qualifying School in 2017, Brown got his first experience as a professional on the Challenger Tour in 2018, making the cut in two of his 13 events. From 2019 to 2021, he played on the PGA EuroPro Tour, and in 2021, he finished tied for second at the end of the season, earning him a return to the Challenger circuit.

His big breakthrough came at the end of the 2022 season when he finished third at European Tour Qualifying School, securing him a place on the European Tour (currently known as the DP World Tour) for the 2023 season.

Prior to the Open, his biggest day in golf came last August when he claimed his maiden European Tour title by winning the ISPS Handa World Invitational in Northern Ireland. He led in all four rounds of the tournament as he finished five shots clear of the rest of the field.