This surprise British Open contender earned one of the great golf nicknames of all time on Thursday

Major winners Shane Lowry, Justin Thomas, Justin Rose, Xander Schaffele, Brooks Koepka, Matt Fitzpatrick and Scottie Scheffler are all in (or right around) the top ten after strong opening rounds at Royal Troon. That’s a terrifying leaderboard, especially for a major, but if anyone can figure out how to survive when things get tough, it’s “The Da Vinci Code.”

We’re unsure if that absurd nickname will stick for 29-year-old Englishman Daniel Brown but for just his third PGA Tour event, Brown looks like he’ll be sticking around for the long haul. With six birdies and no bogeys over his first 18 holes at the 2024 British Open, Brown has proven to be a surprise contender at what’s shaping up to be a big-names horserace. He even drained a 41-foot birdie putt on “The Railway.”

You might be wondering why Brown has received his glorious new moniker “The Da Vinci Code,” and the answer to that is both ingenious and head-slappingly simple: The author of the bestselling book series, which spawned the Tom Hanks film adaptations, is named Dan Brown. Sometimes things just work out.

This is his third event ever on the PGA Tour after last week’s Genesis Scottish Open and the 2023 Barbasol Championship (in which he finished T-7). What a time for Daniel Brown to play some of the best golf of his career. You couldn’t write such an insane story … actually, we know one man who could take a crack at it.