The kids have been all right.
Last month it was Miles Russell, 15, who tied for 20th at the Korn Ferry Tour’s Lecom Suncoast Classic to become the youngest player to notch a top-25 on the PGA Tour’s top two circuits since at least 1983.
This week it’s been Kris Kim, 16, who became the youngest to make a PGA Tour cut in nearly a decade by qualifying for the weekend at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson.
Who has next? That would be Blades Brown.
Brown, a 16-year-old from Nashville, Tennessee, will compete in next week’s Myrtle Beach Classic, making his Tour debut on a sponsor exemption. Brown is ranked fourth in the AJGA rankings and No. 176 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, not far behind Russell, who ranks first and No. 118, respectively (Kim is the world No. 464 amateur). Brown also made headlines last summer by breaking Bobby Jones’ record for youngest medalist in U.S. Amateur history by nearly two full years; Brown co-medaled at Cherry Hills and advanced to the Round of 32.
“Excited, honored, blessed,” Brown posted on social media after accepting his sponsor invite into the field at The Dunes Golf and Beach Club, which also will include Billy Horschel, Erik van Rooyen, Daniel Berger, Mav McNealy and brother Wesley and George Bryan, the latter of whom is also competing on an unrestricted sponsor exemption.
Only one competitor is still doing 10th-grade math homework.
Brown’s mom, Rhonda, was an All-American basketball player at Vanderbilt. As a junior, she led the Commodores in points, rebounds and assists, and she went on to play a few seasons in the WNBA, where she became the first player in league history to record a 3-point basket and later was the No. 1 pick in the 1998 expansion draft. Young Blades played hoops his freshman year at Brentwood Academy, but he has focused solely on golf as a sophomore.
“Maybe I could someday turn out like Jack Nicklaus,” Brown said last summer when informed about Nicklaus’ dual-sport background in golf and basketball.
Brown’s father, Parke, was diagnosed with hairy cell leukemia in December 2022, but he said last year after completing his chemotherapy treatments that his type of cancer is 95% curable.
“I just use it as fuel,” Brown said of his dad’s cancer battle. “Having him here is just awesome. Like he could not be here right now; that’s crazy to think about. I remember when I qualified, he posted, My son is going to the U.S. Amateur! What dad can say that after thinking that they were going to die?”
Brown’s recent results include four top-10s in his past five world-ranked starts, which are highlighted by a T-5 at the Jones Cup and solo third at the AJGA Simplify Boys Championships, one of the national junior circuit’s top events. He won five times last year, including the Tennessee State Junior by 12 shots.