„I’m proud of how I handled myself, but obviously it stung a bit by not hitting a bad golf shot on the last two holes,” he said.
„The links golf got the better of me there, but overall I’m happy.”
Brown is bidding to become just the second Open debutant to win the Claret Jug this decade, following Colin Morikawa in 2021, and he has never once been surprised by the occasion.
„Obviously it wasn’t a normal week, but I feel like mentally I was where I was treated as a normal week on the DP World Tour,” he said.
„I don’t feel much bigger than that, but it’s really big, obviously.
“The way I handled myself today, I think I can go better tomorrow. If you had told me I was going to make the final round of the Open after a couple of shots, I would have ripped your hand off.
The weather couldn’t have been more different in the morning as blue skies and bright sunshine favored the score, giving some of those shots a chance to make up the ground again.
South Africa’s Tristan Lawrence shot a week-low 30 on the front nine en route to a six-under 65, raising his championship score to three under and earning a spot in Sunday’s final pairing with Horschel.
„Obviously I had perfect conditions on the front nine and took full advantage of it,” he said.
„I had a very aggressive game plan Monday and Tuesday and hit a lot of drivers. I did well, didn’t miss a fairway on the front nine and made two putts.
“I’m going to try to do the same thing, be aggressive and try to win the golf tournament.
„It was moving day, as they say, and I sure did it well.”
The chasing pack featured plenty of Americans with Sam Burns, Russell Henley and Xander Schaffel at three-under and Scheffler further back after a frustrating day on the one-stroke green.