Blades Brown — truly one of the greatest golf names of all time, by the way — is making his professional debut at this week’s American Express at PGA West.
Brown played La Quinta Country Club on Thursday — the AmEx uses three courses for the first three rounds before the 54-hole cut is made Saturday night and the final round is played at PGA West’s Pete Dye Stadium Course (the other being the Nicklaus Tournament Course) — and posted an even-par 72. Might not sound too bad, but on a day when 10 under led, Brown had a lot of work to do.
Playing the Tournament Course on Friday, Blades opened with a par on the 10th — he teed off on the back nine — but made a sloppy bogey on the par-5 11th and was instantly behind the eight-ball. However, from Nos. 12-2, the youngster made eight birdies, including a run of six straight from Nos. 12-17.
Through 12 holes, Brown was 7 under for the day and 7 under for the tournament. Data Golf predicts the 54-hole cut will come in at 9 under, so the 17-year-old has to keep the peddle down if he wants to hang around for the final 18 this weekend.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Blades Brown, 17, going low in pro debut at the 2025 American Express
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