![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GGP-1000x600-1-700x420.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nBrown\u2019s other pathway is to continue playing the Korn Ferry Tour, where he ranks 13th on the season-long points list. The top 20 in points at the end of the season earn their PGA Tour cards for 2027, though they would not qualify for signature events. It is why Brown is in Raleigh, N.C., this week to play in the UNC Health Championship a week after playing against Scottie Scheffler, Wyndham Clark and others outside Dallas last week.<\/p>\n
It is also possible that Brown will try to walk both paths, an idea that skeptics suggest could keep him from succeeding on either tour.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m excited for the next couple of weeks and see what\u2019s going to happen,\u201d Brown said Sunday afternoon.<\/p>\n
He has two top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour this year \u2013 third in the Puerto Rico Open and T9 at the Myrtle Beach Classic \u2013 and he was in the final Sunday pairing at the American Express in January, where he played alongside eventual winner Scottie Scheffler.<\/p>\n
Brown isn\u2019t the first teenager to come ripping through the game, looking like he\u2019s headed to the top of the world. Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson did it. So did Michelle Wie and Lydia Ko.<\/p>\n
On the flip side, Ty Tryon and Ryo Ishikawa never lived up to the expectations draped on their shoulders before their 18th birthdays.<\/p>\n
Brown left traditional high school in Nashville, Tennessee, after his sophomore year, transferring to an online program to earn his diploma. Top college programs recruited Brown but he decided in December 2024 to turn pro at 17.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2276446149-509x700.jpg\")
Brown pays close attention to lessons offered by his playing partners. Raj Mehta, Getty Images<\/p>\n
To this point, Brown\u2019s decision has worked out for him. He has two top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour this year \u2013 third in the Puerto Rico Open and T9 at the Myrtle Beach Classic \u2013 and he was in the final Sunday pairing at the American Express in January, where he played alongside eventual winner Scottie Scheffler.<\/p>\n
Along the way, Brown shot 60 in the second round, missing a putt from inside 10 feet on the final hole to shoot 59.<\/p>\n
If Brown feels the eyes on him and hears the voices touting his early success, he has worked to ignore them.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo expectations are a weird thing, right?\u201d he said earlier this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you focus on expectations, for me the thing that I\u2019ve done to help me cope with that is just continuous improvement. As long as I\u2019m doing what I can control and controlling the controllables and just focusing on continuing to get better and becoming the best player that I can be, that\u2019s what helps me deal with expectations.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s an admittedly small sample size but Brown ranks 23rd on the PGA Tour in strokes gained total, 24th in strokes gained approach to the green and 23rd in strokes gained putting. He averages 310 yards off the tee which puts him comfortably in the top half in terms of driving distance.<\/p>\n
As Brown weighs his options, he has the benefit of having been up close and personal with some of the game\u2019s best. Playing with six-time PGA Tour winner Tony Finau last week at the Nelson, Brown said he sought advice about how to improve.<\/p>\n
Finau counseled him not to be consumed with power but to focus on precision. Hitting fairways, Finau told Brown, is important despite the examples of players sacrificing accuracy for length.<\/p>\n
Playing alongside Scheffler at the American Express left a lasting impression on Brown. The teenager joked that he could write a book about all he learned from watching the top-ranked player go about his business.<\/p>\n
With his parents close by \u2013 Brown\u2019s father, Parke, attends virtually every event his son plays and his mother, Rhonda, is often on site \u2013 Brown hasn\u2019t entirely set out on his own yet.<\/p>\n
Brown\u2019s biggest takeaway?<\/p>\n
\u201cJust knowing that I can compete out here,\u201d Brown said.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a different lifestyle for someone who should be planning a post-graduation beach trip with his friends. With his parents close by \u2013 Brown\u2019s father, Parke, attends virtually every event his son plays and his mother, Rhonda, is often on site \u2013 Brown hasn\u2019t entirely set out on his own yet.<\/p>\n
And he hasn\u2019t forgotten his friends in Nashville.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are trade-offs in everything that you do, but what\u2019s really cool is I still hang out with my friends a lot,\u201d Brown said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhenever I go back home to Nashville, I always say, hey, you guys want to play pickleball, you guys want to play basketball, what do you all want to do? It\u2019s so cool because they\u2019ll send me a text after a tournament and say, \u2018Hey, Blades, we were watching you the entire time, it\u2019s so cool to be able to watch you up there.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
And he\u2019s just getting started.<\/p>\n
\u00a9 2026 Global Golf Post LLC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Blades Brown, 19, has been quick to make a name for himself.\u00a0 Raj Mehta, Getty Images Let\u2019s start…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":608120,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[147003,5904,207162,8693,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-608119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-blades-brown","tag-golf","tag-korn-ferry-tour","tag-pga-tour","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608119","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=608119"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608119\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/608120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=608119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=608119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=608119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2276593780-700x467.jpg\")
Blades Brown, 19, has been quick to make a name for himself.\u00a0 Raj Mehta, Getty Images<\/p>\n