On a day when some of the world's best golfers struggled on a parched and fiery Muirfield links, Mark Brown toughed it out. He battled his way to a two-over par 73, and made the cut at the Open Championship right on the number at eight over.
A lot of very good golfers did not. Englishmen Justin Rose (the recent US Open winner) and Luke Donald both get the weekend off. So does world #2 Rory McIlroy who finished his secondround five shots adrift of Brown. And after a fine two-over 73 on the first day, Scottish amateur Grant Forrest's second round was a full 13 strokes worse than his first.
Mark Brown is the epitome of a golf journeyman. For a while in the late 2000's he had full status on the European Tour, but now he plays in the golfing netherworld of the Australasian and the One Asia tours, and ranks #429 in the Official World Golf Rankings. He qualified for the Open Championship at a qualifying tournament in Australia early in the year, and is playing in only his third major.
But one thing that Mark Brown has never lacked is fight. After five holes last night he was three-over for the day, and well outside the cut line at that point. But he ground out a 73, and as conditions in the afternoon got tougher, he watched nervously as the cut line moved out. When the final putt of the day had fallen, Brown was in the field for the final two rounds.
We wish Mark Brown well for his weekend at Muirfield. He probably won't finish the tournament as the Champion Golfer of the Year, but he will have given it his best shot. And that is all that anyone can ask.
FOOTNOTE: A bloke by the name of Woods is lurking with intent, just one short behind veteran Spaniard golfer Miguel Angel Jiminez.
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