Mark Brown might have finished his second round at the British Open this morning (NZT) believing that would be the end of his second Open experience but he will be back for the weekend after making the cut by one shot.
The 38-year-old Wellingtonian fired a two-over-par 73 on theback of his six-over-par 77 on the first day at Muirfield, which was good enough to climb into a share of 70th.
He was four shots off the projected cut when he finished but scoring started to blow out as the conditions became more difficult and he was finally confirmed as a starter this weekend after a three-hour wait.
There were many big names to miss out, including Jim Furyk (+10), Luke Donald (+10), Justin Rose (+10) and Rory McIlroy (+12).
Brown will begin the third round 11 shots behind Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez, who leads by one shot from a group of four players that includes Tiger Woods. The world No 1 is looking for his first major title since claiming the 2008 US Open at Torrey Pines.
Brown went into the Open light on tournament play, considering he hadn't played a tournament since the SK Telecom Open in Korea on the OneAsia Tour in May.
His round included three birdies and five bogeys and he will have an early start tonight (NZT) when he plays alongside Australian Peter Senior.
It is his second appearance at The Open after missing the cut at Turnberry in 2009 and his best finish in a major remains his tie for 24th at the 2008 US PGA Championship.
