Dan Brown is confident that he is a better player than when he was last in the lead at The Open.
The Englishman came to wider prominence in golf's oldest championship on his debut at Royal Troon in 2024 when he held the first-round lead before finishing tied tenth.
Since then, Brown has won a second DP World Tour title and played his way onto the PGA TOUR for the first time.
But after a tough spell in his rookie campaign stateside, the 31-year-old played his way into an early share of the clubhouse lead in the final Major Championship of the year at Royal Birkdale after a four-under 66.
"Tee to green, it's similar to how I've been playing recently," he said. "But today a few putts dropped, which was nice to see because I've not seen that for a while."
Having endeared himself to the crowds at Troon two years ago with his laidback on-course demeanour, much of his post-round media duties was spent discussing his bird tatoos and his habit of on-course smoking.
While he believes results in the United States have not necessarily been a reflection of the way he has played, a return to his home continent in recent weeks has brought a sense of comfort.
Playing in what were the calmest conditions of the day, Brown, a former holder of the English Amateur title, recovered from a bogey at the fourth to make a run of three birdies in a row from the eighth.
Two further gains, including an up-and-down at the par five 17th, helped him match the score posted by playing partner Sungjae Im.
"I think it's just a fair golf course," he said. "There's not too many humps and undulations in the fairway, so if you hit a good shot, generally it stays in the fairway, which I like."
Brown is the first to acknowledge it's just the first round, but he is confident he is equipped to cope with the spotlight that might build if he can sustain a title challenge.
"Basically just the fact that I feel like I can compete in a major and in an Open Championship," he said, when asked what was the biggest learning from being in the headlines at The Open in 2024.
"I feel like I'm a better player now to what I was back then two years ago. So we'll see.
"Obviously it's only Thursday, but hopefully I'm in a sort of similar area on the leaderboard come Sunday."
