17-year-old Blades Brown details shaking off ‘bad holes’ in golf using basketball learnings

Blades Brown is making his debut as a professional on the PGA Tour at the 2025 American Express. The 17-year-old recently talked about how his basketball learnings have shaped his mental approach to the game of golf. The first round of the tournament concluded on Thursday, January 16, 2025.

Brown is currently competing in his second PGA Tour tournament after featuring in the 2024 Myrtle Beach Classic. He suffered a setback initially after scoring a bogey on the second hole and a double bogey on the third. When asked if he did anything to mentally reset his game, Blades Brown said (via ASAP Sports):

"Yeah, it was challenging the first couple of holes, just because my adrenaline was up and whenever that happens I hit the ball super far, so our distances weren't going exactly what we thought they were going to go. Then a poor shot on hole 3 left me in the hazard, unfortunately. I was able to battle back with three birdies in a row and I was super pumped about that."

Brown rebounded with three birdies on the 4th, 5th and 6th holes. When asked if he takes pride in his ability to shake off bad holes. Brown shared his basketball learnings, he said:

"Yeah, I think I do that really well. I play a lot of basketball, so it's just, next play. I think that's one of my strengths is to, whenever a bad hole does happen, because they're going to happen, we, unfortunately, that's just going to happen in golf, I think one of my strengths is just letting it go."

Blades Brown finished the round with a score of an even par 72 in the first round at La Quinta Country Club. He is tied for 116th after the first round with the likes of Patrick Fishburn, Ben Silverman and Patrick Rodgers.

J.T. Poston started strong with a score of 10-under 62 in the first round of the American Express. He scored nine bogeys and an eagle against a bogey. Justin Lower is positioned second with a score of 9-under 63 with two consecutive eagles on the 5th and 6th holes at La Quinta Country Club.

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Blades Brown on turning Pro at the age of 17: Turning professional was a very difficult decision

Blades Brown has chosen to take an unconventional way to turn professional. The 17-year-old turned professional last month skipping the college golf route to play on PGA Tour.

Talking about the decision, he said (via PGA Tour):

"There were a lot of trade-offs in every decision that we make, and for me turning professional was a very difficult decision, but it was the best decision that I believe was for me. When someone comes up to you and says, ‘Hey, do you want to play on the PGA TOUR?’ I'm like, ‘Yeah, 100%, let's do it.’ So it was a very difficult decision, but I believe I made the right decision."

Brown has had a terrific amateur golf career, having broken Bobby Jones' century-old record of winning stroke-play medalist honors at the 2023 U.S. Amateur, doing so at the age of 16. Last year, he was also awarded the 2024 AJGA Rolex Junior Player of the Year.