No matter what happens on Sunday at the American Express, Blades Brown’s 2026 has started with a celebration.
On Sunday, Brown might become the youngest winner on the PGA Tour since Herbert Hoover was in office — his 18 years, seven months and 29 days at the time of his first PGA Tour victory second only to Charles Kocsis at the 1931 Michigan Open.
A victory would be a staggering pronouncement of Brown’s talent, lending the kind of prodigy status typically reserved for concert pianists and Olympic gymnasts. It might also land second on Brown’s own list of accomplishments for January 2026, behind another bear.
High school.
“I finished high school about two weeks ago, so it’s nice to have that burden off my back,” Brown said on Saturday afternoon at the American Express, the same day he finished at 21 under par, good for a tie in second place with the No. 1 golfer in the world, Scottie Scheffler. “But I’m really looking forward to tomorrow.”
While beating the best golfers on the planet is now Brown’s first job, it wasn’t all that long ago that it was his second … behind school. Blades can thank his mother, Rhonda, for his commitment to the books. Rhonda Brown is a former Vanderbilt basketball star and health and anatomy teacher at Brentwood Academy in Nashville. Rhonda was also once a prolific youngster: She was the first overall pick in the 1998 WNBA draft, and is the first WNBA player to make a three-point shot. But she learned it was possible to be gifted and also accomplished: She holds two degrees from Vanderbilt, including a master’s in nursing.
Blades — who bears his mother’s maiden name — also attended Brentwood, where he was on pace to become the first athlete ever to win five-straight state titles before the Tour came calling midway through his sophomore season. While it became clear that Blades’ golf schedule would not allow him to attend Brentwood anymore, his family quickly decided a PGA Tour card and a high school diploma were not mutually exclusive accomplishments. Brown started taking online classes during the downbeats in the golf schedule, and stuck with them all the way through to completion, which just so happened to arrive two weeks before the start of his 2026 season at the American Express.
In Palm Springs, the 18-year-old Brown has shown his competition should be concerned by the proposition of a lifetime fully dedicated to golf. His first start of 2026 has showcased the kind of dizzying talent that made Brown capable of the extraordinary step to the pros at just 17 after breaking Bobby Jones’ 103-year-old record as the youngest medalist in U.S. Amateur history.
Brown shot 12 under in 15 holes on Friday afternoon, finishing par-par-par to tie the lowest score to-par in PGA Tour history and shoot an impressively nondescript 60. After a third-straight sub-70 round on Saturday, he enters the final round one shot behind Si Woo Kim, the tournament leader, and tied with Scheffler, the World No. 1. The three golfers will share a final grouping from PGA West on Sunday afternoon after Brown poured in birdies on his last three holes, including a 25-footer on the 17th that secured discounted beer for all in attendance — an activity Brown will not be able to partake in himself until the spring of 2028.
“No way,” the teenager said with a grin when informed of his achievement on Saturday evening. “Well, I’ll make sure to go get some bottled water and I’ll have my bottled water then.”
All told, a victory for Brown on Sunday at the American Express would mark a groundswell moment for golf — even if it occurred under the comparatively toothless Palm Springs conditions that allowed 20-year-old Nick Dunlap to win as an amateur just two years ago. (Dunlap’s victory was rightfully lauded, but his Sunday coronation featured nothing close to the competitive pressure Brown will face in Scheffler.) A measure of the challenge facing Brown is reflected in Vegas, where Scheffler enters Sunday morning even-money to win the event from one-shot back … and Brown enters at +850 — an implied 10 percent win probability.
Of course, long odds are a bit of a theme for Blades Brown — the golfer born two weeks after the release of Shrek 3 who now faces a chance at a small slice of golfing immortality. No matter the outcome, though, there’s already plenty to celebrate.
“I’m 18 years old playing on the PGA Tour,” Brown said with a grin. “How awesome is that?”
