DP World Tour: Daniel Brown overcomes travel chaos to Shine at SDC Championship
- Rob Fleming
- 29 February 2024
Englishman Daniel Brown brushed off his late arrival into South Africa as he fired an opening 66 to sit one shot off the lead after the first round of the SDC Championship.
Brown carded seven birdies and a single bogey on Thursday to reach six under par, one shot behind home favourites Pieter Moolman and Shaun Norris in the DP World Tour event.
The 29-year-old suffered significant travel disruption ahead of the tournament, initially missing a flight from Frankfurt on Monday before arriving at the host venue in Eastern Cape on Wednesday afternoon, leaving no time for meaningful practice.
He said: "It's been the worst preparation for a golf tournament I think I've ever had and I played really nice.
"It just goes to show it's a silly game. You can prepare for two, three, four days and you think you've cracked it. But it was a bit of a whirlwind of a 48 hours, to say the least.
"I missed my flight on Monday in Frankfurt, stayed overnight in Frankfurt. I tried getting my bags back on Tuesday and then couldn't fly until Tuesday night.
"So I didn't arrive at the golf course yesterday until about 4.30, then I was straight in the physio room."
Scotland's Connor Syme was among the group a shot behind Brown in a tie for fourth place.
