Blades Brown is a name to get familiar with. It’s a pretty memorable name as it is.
At 18 years old, Brown captured a bit of history by carding a 60 on Friday in the second round of the American Express. And he had a short putt for a shot at a 59 on his final hole of the day.
But even after coming painfully close to joining the extremely rare sub-60 club, he still became the youngest player to shoot a 60 or better on the PGA Tour and set a course record at Nicklaus Tournament Course in La Quinta, California.
“The putt didn’t drop on hole No. 9 but lowest round of the PGA Tour for me and a lot of positives to bring into the weekend,” Brown told Golf Channel afterward.
The 12-under round puts his two-day total at 17-under and tied for first place with none other than world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler. Brown’s world ranking is 485, but you’ll have to forgive the teenager who just turned pro a year ago and played a mere eight PGA events in 2025.
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“Scottie is obviously an unbelievable player, and to have my name next to his name on the leaderboard — we’re halfway there so I got a lot of golf to go, but this weekend I’m just going to focus on executing the shots I can and see what happens,” Brown said.
This also continues a whirlwind week for Brown, who flew into California late Wednesday after finishing four rounds at the Bahamas Great Abaco Classic on the Korn Ferry Tour.
That means Saturday will be his seventh straight day of playing a round of competitive golf. Such is life as a young player trying to earn full-time PGA status.
Brown started turning heads in the golf world when, at 16, he became the youngest player ever to earn medalist honors at the U.S. Amateur. A year later, the Tennessee native chose to join the pro ranks despite fielding several offers from college teams.
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It appears he can more than hold his own with the big boys.
Brown and Scheffler won’t be paired up Saturday because the American Express has an unusual three-round cut, which means the leaders won’t be paired up until the final round Sunday.
Either way, Brown is sure to invite a lot of attention over the weekend. He tees off at 11:52 a.m. ET Saturday. TV coverage begins at 4 p.m. ET Saturday on the Golf Channel.
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