Blades Brown has made the cut at a PGA Tour event for the first time as a professional.
The 17-year-old from Nashville, Tennessee, fired a 3-under 68 on Thursday and a 2-under 69 on Friday to finish at 5-under overall, good enough to make the weekend at the Mexico Open.
“I‘m so relieved,” Brown said after.
“I had about a nine-footer for par on hole 17, and thankfully, that dropped. I’m super thankful to be here. Playing golf on a golf course like this, it’s hard to beat.”
Fresh off a bogey on the 16th, Brown felt the cut-line pressure while standing on the tee at the par-3 17th. He pushed his approach shot into the greenside bunker and needed to get up and down to keep his weekend hopes alive. A poor shot then followed, but as Brown alluded to, he was able to make the save. He then went on to birdie the par-5 18th to lock in a Saturday morning tee time.
“I was kind of watching the cut line just to see what it was going to be,” Brown said.
“I knew that it was going to be anywhere around 3 or 4 [under], and I was happy to get in with 5 [under].”
Brown’s last PGA Tour start came at The American Express, where he stumbled down the stretch and missed the cut. He shot a back-nine 40 during his third round — The American Express features a 54-hole cut. This poor stretch included a double-bogey on the famous par-3 17th on the Pete Dye Stadium Course. He found the water off the tee.
Since then, Brown has hit a lot of golf balls, working on his game, hoping that he would not make the same mistake twice.
“I’m super happy to come down here to Mexico and speak some Spanish,” Brown said.
“I took Spanish four years in high school, so I’m really happy I chose that over Latin. I’m having so much fun here at the resort, and I can’t wait for the next two days.”
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Follow him on X @jack_milko.
