David "Deacon" Brown was a Scottish

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 golf

Golf

Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....

er. He was a roofing slater by trade and a keen golfer. In 1886 he was working in Musselburgh

Musselburgh

Musselburgh is the largest settlement in East Lothian, Scotland, on the coast of the Firth of Forth, six miles east of Edinburgh city centre.-History:...

 when The Open Championship

The Open Championship

The Open Championship, or simply The Open , is the oldest of the four major championships in professional golf. It is the only "major" held outside the USA and is administered by The R&A, which is the governing body of golf outside the USA and Mexico...

 was about to be played. John Anderson, who was secretary of the Musselburgh Club at the time, invited him to play and provided him with a pair of striped trousers, a frock coat and a lum hat to wear. He shocked the professionals by winning the event and then turned professional himself.

Brown moved to England to become club professional at Newbiggin By The Sea Golf Club in about 1888 (and then later at Malvern Club). He played in the Open Championship regularly and featured prominently. At the turn of the century he moved to Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

 in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. In 1903 he tied with Willie Anderson

Willie Anderson (golfer)

William Law Anderson was a Scottish immigrant to the United States who became the first golfer to win four U.S. Opens, with victories in 1901, 1903, 1904, and 1905. He is still the only man to win three consecutive titles, and only Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan, and Jack Nicklaus have equalled his total...

 for first place in the U.S. Open

U.S. Open (golf)

The United States Open Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Open, is the annual open golf tournament of the United States. It is the second of the four major championships in golf, and is on the official schedule of both the PGA Tour and the European Tour...

 after 72 holes, but he lost the playoff. Brown enjoyed playing the stock market but lost most of his wealth during the Wall Street slump in 1929 and returned to Musselburgh, where he died the following year.

Wins (1)

Year	Championship	Winning Score	Margin	Runner-up
1886 1886 Open Championship The 1886 Open Championship was a golf competition held at Musselburgh Links. David Brown won the championship....	The Open Championship The Open Championship The Open Championship, or simply The Open , is the oldest of the four major championships in professional golf. It is the only "major" held outside the USA and is administered by The R&A, which is the governing body of golf outside the USA and Mexico...	(79-78=157)	2 strokes	Willie Campbell

Results timeline

Tournament	1880	1881	1882	1883	1884	1885	1886	1887	1888	1889
The Open Championship The Open Championship The Open Championship, or simply The Open , is the oldest of the four major championships in professional golf. It is the only "major" held outside the USA and is administered by The R&A, which is the governing body of golf outside the USA and Mexico...	T4	DNP	DNP	T24	DNP	DNP	1	9	DNP	T4

Tournament	1890	1891	1892	1893	1894	1895	1896	1897	1898	1899
The Open Championship The Open Championship The Open Championship, or simply The Open , is the oldest of the four major championships in professional golf. It is the only "major" held outside the USA and is administered by The R&A, which is the governing body of golf outside the USA and Mexico...	10	7	24	DNP	T13	T6	T7	T7	DNP	CUT

Tournament	1900	1901	1902	1903	1904	1905	1906	1907	1908
U.S. Open U.S. Open (golf) The United States Open Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Open, is the annual open golf tournament of the United States. It is the second of the four major championships in golf, and is on the official schedule of both the PGA Tour and the European Tour...	DNP	DNP	T12	2	DNP	53	DNP	T8	T12
The Open Championship The Open Championship The Open Championship, or simply The Open , is the oldest of the four major championships in professional golf. It is the only "major" held outside the USA and is administered by The R&A, which is the governing body of golf outside the USA and Mexico...	DNP	DNP	CUT	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP

• Note: Brown played in only the two Opens.

DNP = Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut

"T" indicates a tie for a place

Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10