[3] In his first season, he entered four tournaments, reaching the last 48 at the 1984 World Championship, where he defeated Steve Duggan and Colin Roscoe but lost 1–10 to Eddie Sinclair.

There, he overcame Dessie Sheehan, incumbent World Champion Joe Johnson and Mark Bennett to reach the last 16, but was beaten 3–5 by Stephen Hendry.

After beating Ian Williamson, Mike Hallett, James and Tony Chappel, he faced the resurgent Doug Mountjoy; from 1–4 behind, Browne rallied to 3–4, but the eventual champion held on to win the eighth frame by four points, and the match 5–3.

The next few seasons brought no success for Browne; in 1991/1992, his highest earning performances were two last-128 runs, while the unknown Hong Kong player Franky Chan beat him 5–2 in the 1992 Strachan Open.

Browne suffers from osteoporosis and by the time he stopped playing professional snooker at 32 he had both hips replaced and needed shoulder surgery.