Kenneth John Brown (born 9 January 1957) is a former
Scottish golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...
er, who now works as a golf broadcaster and writer. He won the 1987
Southern Open on the PGA Tour and won four times on the
European Tour
The European Tour (currently known as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons), legally the PGA European Tour is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European Senior Tour (for players aged fi ...
. He played in five
Ryder Cup matches between 1977 and 1987.
Amateur career
Brown had a brief period as an amateur. In 1974 he won the
Carris Trophy, the English Boys Amateur Stroke-Play Championship at Moor Park. Despite a last round 81 he finished two strokes ahead of
Paul Downes
Paul Downes is an English folk guitarist, singer and composer. He has appeared on eight albums with bands, three highly acclaimed solo albums and has over 150 session credits. He has toured every concert venue, theatre and festival in Britain, p ...
and
Sandy Lyle
Alexander Walter Barr Lyle (born 9 February 1958) is a Scottish professional golfer. Lyle has won two major championships during his career. Along with Nick Faldo and Ian Woosnam, he became one of Britain's top golfers during the 1980s. He spe ...
. Later in 1974 he represented England boys in their international against Scotland, an England team that also included
Nick Faldo and Sandy Lyle. After leaving school, Brown had been a greenkeeper at his home club of Harpenden Common before becoming an assistant professional at Verulam Golf Club in late 1974.
Professional career
Brown played on the
European Tour
The European Tour (currently known as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons), legally the PGA European Tour is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European Senior Tour (for players aged fi ...
from 1976 to 1992. He won four times on the tour between 1978 and 1985. His first win was in the 1978
Carroll's Irish Open where he finished a stroke ahead of
Seve Ballesteros and
John O'Leary. He had further wins in the 1983
KLM Dutch Open, the 1984
Glasgow Open
The Glasgow Open was a European Tour golf tournament which was played annually at Haggs Castle Golf Club in Glasgow from 1983 to 1985. The most distinguished of the three winners was future World Number 1 Bernhard Langer of Germany
Ge ...
and the 1985
Four Stars National Pro-Celebrity. He often performed well in the
British PGA Championship
The BMW PGA Championship is an annual men's professional golf tournament on the European Tour. It was founded in 1955 by the Professional Golfers' Association, and originally called the British PGA Championship.
History
The BMW PGA Championship ...
, finishing runner-up or joint runner-up four times between 1978 and 1983, three times behind
Nick Faldo and then behind Seve Ballesteros. Brown finished in the top-10 of European Tour Order of Merit in 1978, 1979, 1980 and 1983. His best season was 1978 when he finished fourth in the Order of Merit.
Brown gained his
PGA Tour
The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also ...
card at
1983 PGA Tour Qualifying School. He played mainly on the
PGA Tour
The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also ...
from 1984 to early 1989, winning the
Southern Open in 1987. Brown struggled in the early part of his first season, 1984, but from August he made the cut in his last 10 tournaments. Despite this he was 151st in the money list coming into the final event of the year, the
Pensacola Open
The Pensacola Open was a golf tournament on the PGA Tour. The inaugural version of the tournament was played in 1956 and its last edition in 1988.
Tournament highlights
* 1960: Arnold Palmer birdies the 72nd hole to win by one shot over Doug San ...
, and unlikely to retain his card by finishing in the top 125. Leading after three rounds, he eventually finished joint runner-up, lifting him to 112th in the money list. 1987 was his best season on the tour with six top-10 finishes. Brown had a poor start to the 1989 PGA Tour season and played the remainder of the season in Europe, losing his PGA Tour card. He continued to play on the
European Tour
The European Tour (currently known as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons), legally the PGA European Tour is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European Senior Tour (for players aged fi ...
but had relatively little success and retired in 1992.
Brown played in five
Ryder Cup matches, in 1977, 1979, 1983, 1985, and 1987. He had a 4-9-0 win–loss–tie record, including two wins and two losses in singles matches. He was vice-captain under Mark James in the 1999 matches. In 1977 Brown switched his allegiance from England to Scotland and later represented Scotland in a number of team competitions, including the
World Cup
A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...
on four occasions. Playing with
Sandy Lyle
Alexander Walter Barr Lyle (born 9 February 1958) is a Scottish professional golfer. Lyle has won two major championships during his career. Along with Nick Faldo and Ian Woosnam, he became one of Britain's top golfers during the 1980s. He spe ...
they finished second in the 1979 World Cup. Brown played in the
Open Championship
The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...
14 times. His best performance was in the
1980 Open at
Muirfield
Muirfield is a privately owned golf links which is the home of The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers. Located in Gullane, East Lothian, Scotland, overlooking the Firth of Forth, Muirfield is one of the golf courses used in rotation for The ...
where he was tied for second place after three rounds but a final round of 76 left him in a tie for sixth place.
Broadcasting
After retiring from playing, Brown has spent much of his time as a TV golf commentator and analyst, for the BBC and Fox Sports. He also worked as part of the commentary team for the international coverage of the European Tour on selected events. He started his TV work with Sky Sports, working on their PGA Tour and European Tour coverage in the early 1990s.
Awards
Brown was appointed
Member of the Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
(MBE) in the
2019 Birthday Honours for services to sport and to broadcasting.
Amateur wins
*1973 Herts Boys Championship
*1974
Carris Trophy, South Eastern Boys Championship
Professional wins (9)
PGA Tour wins (1)
European Tour wins (4)
European Tour playoff record (0–2)
Safari Circuit wins (1)
Other wins (3)
*1975 Hertfordshire Professional Championship, Hertfordshire Assistants, Southern Assistant Championship
Results in major championships
''Note: Brown never played in the
U.S. Open.''
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
Team appearances
*
Ryder Cup (representing Europe):
1977
Events January
* January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group.
* January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...
,
1979
Events
January
* January 1
** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...
,
1983
The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call.
Events January
* January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...
,
1985
The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
** The Internet's Domain Name System is created.
** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...
(winners),
1987
File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...
(winners)
*
World Cup
A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...
(representing Scotland):
1977
Events January
* January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group.
* January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...
,
1978,
1979
Events
January
* January 1
** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...
,
1983
The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call.
Events January
* January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...
*
Double Diamond International
The Double Diamond International was a team golf tournament that was played from 1971 to 1977. It was hosted in England for the first three years, and then in Scotland.
From 1974 and 1977 the event was preceded by an individual 36-hole stroke pla ...
(representing Scotland): 1977
*
Hennessy Cognac Cup
The Hennessy Cognac Cup was a biennial team golf tournament contested from 1976 to 1984. The contests in 1976, 1978 and 1980 were between teams of professional male golfers; one team representing Great Britain and Ireland, the other team representi ...
(representing Great Britain and Ireland): 1978 (winners), (representing Scotland): 1984
*
Kirin Cup
The is an association football tournament organised in Japan by the Kirin Brewery Company. The host, Japan, is a participant in every edition. The tournament was founded in 1978 then known as Japan Cup (International competition which nationa ...
(representing Europe): 1987
See also
*
1983 PGA Tour Qualifying School graduates
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Ken
Scottish male golfers
European Tour golfers
PGA Tour golfers
Ryder Cup competitors for Europe
Golf writers and broadcasters
People from Harpenden
1957 births
Living people