17-year-old phenom Blades Brown shoots even-par in his first round as a professional golfer

As Blades Brown finished signing his scorecard after Thursday’s opening round of The American Express, he turned to his caddie and exhaled. The 17-year-old had done it – he finished his first round as a professional golfer.

Brown’s even-par round of 72 at La Quinta Country Club may not have been one for the record books, but it was one for the history books as he is now the youngest player to ever compete in this event as a pro.

Was he a bundle of nerves on the first tee?

“Actually, I was OK on the first tee. I kind of see it as excitement, not nerves, but I think I got a few extra miles an hour of ball speed just off of my adrenaline, though,” said the Nashville native who decided to turn pro in December.

Brown admitted that adrenaline rush may have hurt him on the first couple of holes. He started his round with a par, a nervy three-putt bogey and a double-bogey that included a water ball off the tee on the par-3 third hole. Three-over through three holes was not what he envisioned.

“Yeah, it was challenging those first couple holes, just because my adrenaline was up and whenever that happens, you hit the ball super-far so our distances weren’t going exactly where we thought they would go,” Brown said. “But I was able to battle back so I was super-pumped about that.”

Despite being 17, Brown showed the mettle of a veteran as he shook off his bad start by rattling off three consecutive birdies, including a 17-foot putt for birdie on No. 4 and two easy greenside up-and-downs on back-to-back par 5s. All of a sudden he was back to even par and that’s where he would stay.

Remarkably, from that point on, he finished the round with 12 consecutive pars. Many of which required some heroics, showcasing what is clearly Brown’s specialty: Getting up-and-down for par around the green. Time after time, he made difficult par saves look easy. His dad, Parke, who along with his mother Rhonda and about 20 more friends and family followed him around the course Thursday, said that’s always been a strength of his son’s game.

“I would always call him Up-and-Down Brown,” his father said with a laugh.

The ninth hole was a prime example. He hit an errant tee shot behind some trees and didn’t have a lane to go for the green on the par-4 hole. Instead, again showing some veteran savvy, he intentionally angled one toward the left green-side bunker. He left himself a more difficult banker shot than he wanted, but he showed just how comfortable he is in the sand, hitting it to four feet and making the par-saving putt.

Brown followed that up with another sand save on the 10th hole. He had a tough bunker shot with the green running away from him and not much green to work with. He did his best, but it rolled about 15 feet past. This time it was his putter that came through as he sank that one for another solid par save, punctuated with a slight fist-pump for the 17-year-old who does not show a lot of emotion on the course.

“Ooh, man, yeah those were like not that hard of holes, but I made them a little bit more difficult than they needed to be,” Brown said. “On nine I knew that I could get myself a chance for par if I hit in the left bunker and then when I got up there, it was a pretty dicey shot, but hit it to about four feet, knocked it in. Then the one on 10, making that 15-footer for par, I looked at my caddie Jack and I was like ‘OK, that was nice.'”

One of the reasons Brown required so many great up-and-downs was because his accuracy off the tee was not there all day. He only hit 4 of 14 fairways, the second-worst effort off the tee of any player in Thursday’s field, and that included driver, fairway woods and even an iron on 18 that never found the short grass.

He saved his best par save for the 17th hole. He hit another errant tee shot that hit a tree flush and bounced backward, resulting in a drive of only about 100 yards. He was still behind the tree and could only advance it about 100 more yards, leaving him a long iron for this third shot on the par-4. It was a nice approach, but it rolled past the pin and onto the back fringe. Brown pulled out his trusty wedge from a spot where most players would have putted, and sure enough, his ball plopped softly on the green and rolled in to the roar of the large gallery that was following him all day.

His father Parke, who has recently battled and is still battling leukemia, called Thursday one of the best days of his life. A day he wasn’t sure he’d get to see.

“This is just so special because life’s never been more precious to me,” said Parke, while following his son on the 14th hole Thursday. “Just to see him do what he loves and be passionate and have a chance to play on the biggest stage at the highest level in the sport he loves. It’s just … special. This is a great day.”

Brown said those emotions went both ways as it meant a lot to him that his dad and family were there, too.

“I was looking down the fairway a couple of times and to be able to see my dad walking with a smile on his face was big for me,” Brown said. “He probably wasn’t too overjoyed with the shot I hit on 17, but he was the first one to yell ‘Fore!’ I heard him back there, but it was so special having my family out here.”

In case you were wondering about Brown’s age in relation to the PGA, here are a few nuggets:

• The youngest player ever to win on the PGA Tour was good old Charles Kocsis who won the 1931 Michigan Open at 18 years, six months and nine days. Brown doesn’t turn 18 until May 21 so if he were to win any tournament this year, he would become the youngest PGA winner ever.

• The youngest player since 1940 to win on the PGA Tour is Jordan Spieth, who was 19 years, 11 months and 17 days old when he won the 2013 John Deere Classic.

• Just last year at this event, Nick Dunlap became the eighth-youngest player to ever win a PGA event at 20 years and 29 days old.

• And here’s a wild trivia question for you. The youngest person to ever play in a PGA event? That would be Michelle Wie. That’s right, the iconic LPGA star played in the PGA’s 2004 Sony Open in Hawaii at 14 years, three months and four days old. She missed the cut by one stroke.

Brown has a lot of work to do to join that young winner’s list this week. The American Express is known for low scores and an even-par round on notoriously birdie-happy La Quinta Country Club doesn’t have Brown in great position. He’s tied for 116th in the 155-player field, 10 shots behind first-round leader J.T. Poston, who shot a 10-under 62 at the Nicklaus Tournament Course.

But the teenager is undaunted. He can fall back on his one other PGA Tour experience.

Brown was in this event as an invited sponsor’s exemption and between the invitation and the tournament surprised many by turning pro. So Thursday’s round was his first PGA round as a pro, but not his first PGA round ever. He played in and made the cut at the Myrtle Beach Classic last May as a 16-year-old amateur.

“I remember at Myrtle Beach my first round I shot 1-over par and my agent Tommy, he said ‘Hey, bud. That’s your first round on the PGA Tour. You’re going to have plenty more of those, just leave this one behind and you’re going to be good,'” Brown said. “So I’m super-pumped to be able to have my first round as a professional in the books, and I’m really excited for what’s to come.”

Shad Powers is a columnist for The Desert Sun. Reach him at shad.powers@desertsun.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Blades Brown, 17, becomes youngest to ever play in The American Express