12 Things You Didn't Know About Ken Brown

A former professional, and renowned television personality, we take a look at 12 things you didn't know about Ken Brown.

12 Things You Didn't Know About Ken Brown

The presenter famous for his on-course escapades especially at The Masters, Ken Brown is a crowd favourite amongst the golfing fraternity. But how much do you actually know about the former professional golfer? Well in this piece we have taken a look at 12 things you didn't already know about him.

12 Things You Didn't Know About Ken Brown

1. Kenneth John Brown was born in 1957 on the 9th of January.

2. Brown started his career in golf as a greenkeeper. Brown said; "When I left school, first of all I was a greenkeeper for six months at my home club of Harpenden Common – I worked in the morning and golfed in the afternoon. After six months, there was a job advertised at Verulam Golf Club for an assistant professional and I thought, ‘Let’s go for it!’ I got the job at £10 per week in 1974, and just did what an assistant club professional does."

3. He is entirely self-taught.

4. Brown had four wins on the European Tour and won once on the PGA Tour at the 1987 Southern Open.

5. Arguably his finest win, Brown won the Glasgow Open in 1984 by a colossal 11 shots.

6. Two of his nicknames include The Walking Cigarette, and The Walking One-Iron.

7. Brown competed in five Ryder Cups and was on the winning team twice, in 1985 and 1987.

8. He published a book on putting called One-Putt: The Ultimate Guide To Perfect Putting. On the cover Lee Westwood is quoted as saying; "you will hole more putts and understand why by reading this book...I read it and so should you."

9. Brown is of course famous for his 'Ken On The Course' sections of coverage which he said started from humble beginnings. Brown said; "Once Sky started sending on-course reporters to the Majors, there were a lot of American adverts and bits and pieces to fill. At one stage, we were doing them live at the Majors, which was really quite exciting. No-one knew what I was going to do. I had a good cameraman called Brian, and we used to say, ‘When they need the next one, we’ll do x and y,’ and off I went with whatever was going on. I’ve got it all in my head – I’ve no idea what I’m going to say, but I know what I’m going to show."

10. He never played in the US Open. In fact the Major he competed in the most was The Open Championship and his best finish was a tied 6th in 1980. It was held at Muirfield and he shot a 76 to finish 11 strokes behind Tom Watson.

11. Brown retired from professional golf in 1992.

12. He was awarded an MBE (Member of the British Empire) in 2019 as part of the Queens Birthday Honours List. This was for services to sport and broadcasting.

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