Dan Brown tries to hide smoking from his parents at The Open as debutante poses for selfies with fans
The Open debutante Dan Brown has revealed he smokes while golfing as a coping mechanism.
The English golfer is still in contention to win his first major, making the cut and finding himself tied in second with a score of three-under-par on the final day.
His playing partner, Shane Lowry, is behind him in ninth place on one-under-par, with the Irishman complaining about the conditions at the open on Saturday.
European tour player Brown on the other hand is keeping his dream of winning a major alive, finding himself even par heading to the 18th and leading The Open.
But unlike most of his other competitors and athletes, Brown occasionally likes a cigarette.
"The cigarettes are just a bit of a bad habit I have got into,” he said in the mixed zone on Saturday.
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"I only really do it when I am golfing so could be a coping mechanism. I was trying to sneak them in really.
"My mum and dad are here, a lot of people are watching and I don’t know how they will take it.
"They know I smoke but I don’t do it in front of them and want to hide it a little bit.”
It is a habit he tries to keep from them and even sometimes would rope his caddie in to help him.
Back in 2017, he was playing a corporate event at Royal Birkdale and his dad and brother were following him.
His dad did not know he smoked at the time, so his caddie would roll him cigarettes when his dad was ahead of them.
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Brown was one of the only golfers left on the fairway towards the end of Saturday.
He happily posed for selfies with fans soaked by the rain in South Ayrshire.
Brown is currently tied with Justin Rose, Russell Henley, Thriston Lawrence, Xander Schauffele and Sam Burns.
PGA Tour golfer Billy Horschel is currently leading the charge for Open glory with four-under.
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He last won the competition in 2022.
Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods were among the big name stars not to reach this stage of the 152nd Open Championships.