Tag: Blades Brown

Schupak: Smells like teen spirit, but are today’s golf prodigies really that special?

Miles Russell, Kris Kim, Blades Brown — at this pace, the Tour’s going to need to expand its daycare.

These kids are good.

The PGA Tour shouldn’t bother with reviving its old marketing slogan these guys are good because pretty soon none of them will be old enough to celebrate their successes with an alcoholic beverage.

First, it was 15-year-old Miles Russell, the youngest AJGA Player of the Year (displacing Tiger Woods), making the cut at a Korn Ferry Tour event (he finished T-20 in the LECOM Suncoast Classic) and nearly doing it again the following week. The high school freshman already has secured a sponsor exemption to the PGA Tour’s Butterfield Bermuda Championship in November, and the invites should be rolling in.

Last week, Kris Kim, 16, did one better, receiving a sponsor exemption into the PGA Tour’s CJ Cup Byron Nelson and shooting a first-round 64. He became the fifth-youngest player in the history of the PGA Tour to make the cut and the youngest in tournament history. Younger, in fact, than the Golden Child, Jordan Spieth. (Kim finished 65th.) Asked what he is most excited about when he gets back home, Kim responded with this classic answer: “I’ve got my driving license this year, so I think that’s going to be pretty cool.”

This week, it smells like teen spirit in the play-for-pay ranks in the form of young Blades Brown. Having already become the youngest stroke play medalist in U.S. Amateur history in 2023 (he was co-medalist) and breaking a record set by Bobby Jones 103 years ago, the 16-year-old Brown teed it up on Thursday at the Tour’s Myrtle Beach Classic and opened with 1-over 72.

At this pace, the Tour’s going to need to expand its daycare with all these youngsters proving they have game.

And it’s not just the men – 15-year-old Asterisk Talley of Northern California just qualified for the U.S. Women’s Open later this month and another 15-year-old, Ashley Shaw, earned a two-stroke victory at the John Shippen Cognizant Cup on Monday to earn a spot in this week’s LPGA field in New Jersey.

Impressive accomplishments, for sure, but when young golfers are doing seemingly remarkable things with such regularity it does take some of the wow factor away from the feat. These stories begin to feel more dog bites man than man bites dog. This latest kiddie corps, after all, isn’t that far removed from the age of Rose Zhang, who won in her LPGA debut last year, or Nick Dunlap, who won the American Express on the PGA Tour in January as an amateur and subsequently turned pro. Before celebrating his 21st birthday, Tom Kim won twice on the Tour and earned additional victories in India, Pakistan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Korea and Singapore.

It wasn’t that long ago when Adam Scott and Dustin Johnson were the only players with multiple victories on the PGA Tour among players in their 20s. But Tiger Woods, besides winning eight to 10 times a year and preventing a generation from winning enough for World Golf Hall of Fame consideration, also gave rise to an influx of young, athletic talent. Talk to a PGA Tour Champions pro and he’ll tell you that in his day, he had to learn to shape shots and to flight the ball at different trajectories.

“You were almost serving an apprenticeship,” Woody Austin said. “You had to cut your teeth and get experience on Tour before you were ready to go win, and if you were any good, you’d do so in your 30s. Now, they come out of the box and they’re ready to go.”

Austin went on a lengthy rant about equipment, and he’s not wrong. The biggest factor, he said, is that the golf ball doesn’t curve anymore, and the penalty for hitting it crooked is less severe. So, newly minted pros and those still seeking their driver’s license don’t have to learn to work the ball both ways; just grip it and rip it. Another factor is that the equipment is so much easier to match. It used to take months of trial and error to find the right shaft and driver. If it used to take a player three months to determine that his driver is spinning the ball too much, it is now revealed in three shots. Now a player sets up his TrackMan or FlightScope, it spews out numbers and the whole bag can be reconfigured in an afternoon. Game-changer. Not to mention that there are data analytics experts to tell a player how to play a course and a green book that tells a player the break and read of the green. Experience is overrated.

The reason “these guys are good” is less of a secret. Players are being groomed like future pros well before they arrive at college. And when they turn pro, they travel with an entourage of swing, fitness and mental coaches. That these youngsters have the ability and the mental fortitude to compete with golfers more than twice their age and old enough to be their parent is still is impressive but it’s no longer something to marvel about. It’s a new day and age and one in which youth is not wasted on the young.

Current USGA champion, 16 year old among medalists at 2023 U.S. Amateur

In the 123-year history of the U.S. Amateur, no one has done what Blades Brown did Tuesday.

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CHERRY HILLS VILLAGE, Colo. — In the 123-year history of the U.S. Amateur, no one has done what Blades Brown did Tuesday.

The 16-year-old, from Nashville, Tennessee, tied the competitive course record at Colorado Golf Club, the stroke-play co-host, shooting an 8-under 64 with four bogeys. He finished at 7 under following 36 holes, tying for medalist honors. Brown is the youngest in the history of the U.S. Amateur to win medalist honors.

“It’s up there,” he said of the accomplishment, “just because this is my first U.S. Am. I was told the U.S. Am is like one level down from the U.S. Open. To be able to shoot 8 under here is awesome. It really gives me confidence in my game and my practice.”

U.S. Amateur: Photos

Brown tied with Sampson Zheng, who earlier this year won the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball title. Zheng shot 1-under 70 at Cherry Hills on Tuesday after an opening 6-under 66 at Colorado Golf Club.

“There were definitely some nerves going off the tee,” Zheng said. “I knew I was the leader and I had the chance to be medalist. But the goal from the start was to win, so I feel like I handled myself pretty well out there. I didn’t back off from any tough shots, I didn’t back off from any tough holes, and I stayed process really well, step by step, I took it one at a time, just fairways and greens, and then stayed out of trouble for the most part.”

Also tying for medalist honors was Jackson Buchanan, who birdied his final three holes at Colorado Golf Club to tie Brown and Zheng.

Stroke play is a little different than match play, I think it proves the best player,” Buchanan said. “Two days is obviously not much but I think stroke play proves the best player. Once you get to match play everyone here is so good. It doesn’t matter if you are [seeds] 64 or 1.”

That trio will be the top three seeds in the Round of 64, which is set to begin at 11 a.m. ET Wednesday. Additionally, there won’t be a playoff because exactly 64 players made the cut, which was even-par. However, that doesn’t mean there weren’t some big names heading home early.

Some, like 2022 semifinalist Dylan Menante and 2023 Western Amateur semifinalist Andrew Goodman, made the cut on the number.

When match play seeds are determined, they’ll be posted here.