Mark Brown had another good round in Holland today with a 2-under par 68 to move to 3-under for the tournament. Brown was once again superb from tee to green and made tap in par after par as once again he hold too few putts. Brown had 31 putts in an otherwise brilliant display in warm and calm conditions at the Kennemer Golf and Country Club. After a bogey start after finding the left rough off the tee, Mark eased into his rhythym with birdies on two and chances on three, four and five. His luck changed as he took his chances on holes six through eight. On the back nine Mark continued his excellent ball striking but failed to capitalise and bogeyed sixteen after finding the right hand rough and failing to up and down from a missed green. Brown’s play is infinitely better than anything seen over the last few months but he needs to keep patient and keep working on his putting. After the round he managed to watch the All Blacks game before a quick lunch and off to the putting green ahead of his first Sunday round of golf since the Wales Open in early June. Click here for full scores, the leader is currently at 9-under par.

Mark Brown himself admits it would be hard to play better tee to green than he has over the last two days, today shooting a 1-over par 71 in the second round of the KLM Open in Holland. Brown’s putter let him down today, with five makeable birdie chances in the last seven holes going begging. Brown, resplendent in the Dutch national colour of orange, played sublimely other than a misjudged wedge on the fifth where he found very thick rough, bashed the ball out and three putted for double bogey. Mark made 14 greens in regulation but 33 putts was way too many on a day when so many chances were there for the taking. He now faces a nervous wait to see if he makes the cut, though realistically he will make it on the number. Should he play the weekend he will be looking to capitalise on the early conditions and make a move on the field. Click here for full scores.

Mark Brown has played what he described as “his best ball striking round of the year” in shooting 2-under par 68 in the first round of the KLM Open at Kennemer Golf and Country Club. Teeing off 10 at 7:30 am, Brown showed patience as he made par after par in the breezy and showery conditions. As he sun came out and the course hotted up so did Brown’s play with birdies on two and three.  Brown hit 12 of 13 fairways in his bogey free round, his only mistake perhaps being his outfit choice of royal blue shirt and white trousers which saw him dressed identically to the marshals. His round was not without drama though as his tee shot on the eighth went left into the rough and Brown had a tough par saving putt. The final hole saw Mark on the on the fairway but flew the green into some ugly rough, causing him to show frustration which had otherwise been absent. He chipped out to five feet and putted out for a solid start to what he is hoping is the first of four rounds here. Click here for all scores.

The beauty of Mark Brown’s current status on the European Tour is that there is always another tournament next week so this week it is the Barclays Scottish Open at the scenic Loch Lomond north of Glasgow. Brown arrived on Monday and has spent the last two days practicing and settling in for two weeks in mild Scotland. The Brown clan are here in force to support and Mark will tee off the first at 14:10 (1:10am NZT) with Andres Romero of Argentina and Johan Edfors of Sweden. Live scoring is available at www.europeantour.com