Brown had to enter Q School in 2016 as he had dropped out of the top 64 on the Order of Merit. He reached the last 16 on the second day but overall did not do enough to secure a tour card, giving him a limited selection of events for the year ahead. He didn't qualify for the UK Open, but at the sixth Players Championship he beat Joe Cullen, James Richardson, Antonio Alcinas, James Wilson and Simon Whitlock to reach the semi-finals of an event for the first time in nearly five years. He was defeated 6–3 by Josh Payne. Brown also got to the last 32 and last 16 in two other events to qualify for the Players Championship Finals, where he will play Mensur Suljović.