Blades Brown shoots 5-under 66 to move up the leaderboard Myrtle Beach Classic
11 May 2024
by Justin Golba of AmateurGolf.com
see also: Blades Brown Rankings
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Blades Brown (USGA Photo)
A 31 on his final nine holes propelled Blades Brown up 41 spots and into a tie for 48th place and, most importantly, a made cut at 3-under at the inaugural Myrtle Beach Classic at The Dunes Golf and Beach Club in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
He is now in the top 20 after a third-round bogey-free 5-under 66. Brown made five birdies and no bogeys and, similar to his second round, made four of his five birdies on the back nine. Brown is currently T22 at 8-under.
Brown became the third teenager to make the cut in a professional event recently, with Kris Kim debuting at The CJ Cup Byron Nelson last week and making the cut, and Miles Russell finishing T20 at the Lecom Suncoast Classic on the Korn Ferry Tour.
Brown was T89 after the first round and needed at least a 68 to make the cut. He was even par on his first nine holes, the back nine of the course, but then got red hot, making a birdie on holes No. 1, 3, 6, and 7 with no bogeys.
Brown recorded five birdies and six bogeys in the opening round but followed that up with five birdies and just one bogey in his second round en route to a 4-under 67.
And his dad was on hand to watch him do it.
Chris Gotterup is leading the tournament at 18-under after rounds of 66-64-65.
PREVIEW
Blades Brown has stacked up one of the top resumes in junior golf, and now he is making his PGA Tour debut. The Nashville native and high school sophomore joins 16-year-old Kris Kim and 15-year-old Miles Russell as the most recent junior golfers to show promise in their professional golf debuts.
Kim debuted at The CJ Cup Byron Nelson last week and made the cut, while Russell finished T20 at the Lecom Suncoast Classic on the Korn Ferry Tour.
Now, Blades Brown will get his chance to show off his game at the highest level.
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Notable names teeing it up alongside Blades Brown at the Myrtle Beach Classic include nine-time PGA Tour winner Brandt Snedeker, Billy Horschel, Beau Hossler, Daniel Berger, and Kevin Kisner. George Bryan and Matt Atkins will also be in the field by way of the Qualifier at Myrtle Beach.
Last year, Brown was the youngest stroke play co-medalist in U.S. Amateur history, breaking Bobby Jones's 103-year-old record. He was also named the 2023 Tennessee Boys’ Junior and Men’s Player of the Year, the first to achieve this double accomplishment. He also broke the competitive course record in the second round of the U.S. Amateur.
He currently stands at No. 4 on the Rolex AJGA Rankings. Brown won back-to-back AJGA titles last summer and finished in the top 10 at this year’s Jones Cup and Terra Cotta Invitational, two of the top junior events on the schedule.
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He won last year’s Tennessee Junior by 12 strokes.