Blades Brown, an 18-year-old professional golfer from Nashville, is tied atop The American Express leaderboard with Scottie Scheffler at 17-under through two rounds at PGA West in La Quinta, California.
He got there after shooting a course record 60 (12-under) at the Nicklaus Tournament Course on Friday.
The American Express is a unique tournament, as golfers play three different courses over three days: Pete Dye Stadium Course, La Quinta Country Club and Nicklaus Tournament. The golfers then finish on the Pete Dye Stadium Course for the fourth and final round.
Brown played at La Quinta in Round 1 and shot a five-under 67. However, he caught fire on Day 2. Brown even had a chance to shoot a 59 with an eight-foot birdie putt on the last. It didn’t fall in the cup, but Brown’s sensational performance will be remembered for quite some time.
He shot eight-under on his first seven holes thanks to six birdies and an eagle for a 28 on the back nine (his de-facto front nine, since he started on hole No. 10). Brown then had four more birdies in his next six holes, putting him at 12-under through 15 overall. He finished with three pars for a clean card.
Brown is the youngest medalist at stroke play in U.S. Amateur history, achieving the feat at just 16 years of age in 2023. He shot 7-under to earn co-medalist honors with Sampson Zheng and Jackson Buchanan.
In Dec. 2024, Brown announced his intention to officially turn professional and debuted at last year’s American Express tournament under a sponsor’s exemption (he is doing the same again this year).
Brown shot a two-under 210 through three days but missed the cut by three strokes. Still, it was a solid result given that he was making his debut at the age of 17.
Brown is currently on the Korn Ferry Tour. He’s played two events in The Bahamas this year, making one cut that resulted in an impressive T17 finish at The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic at The Abaco Club.
Brown didn’t even get into town until Wednesday evening, so he had a quick turnaround. However, that hasn’t affected him whatsoever, and he’s reached the halfway point of the tournament tied with the world’s No. 1 golfer, a sensational feat.
