The last time Blades Brown faced a choice, he took the unusual route. He was a 17-year-old golf star who chose to forgo college to turn pro and pursue his dream of playing on the PGA Tour instead of delaying the climb.
Brown’s foray into professional golf it has not been a smooth ride. He made just three cuts in eight PGA Tour starts last year, but was able to secure full-time Korn Ferry Tour status for 2026. He has played well so far this season on both tours. He was in the last group on American Express with Scottie Scheffler and Si Woo Kim. Brown stumbled Sunday and missed the tournament, but he walked 18 holes with Scheffler on Sunday gave him something priceless.
“Playing Scottie Scheffler in the last group at 18 is — I had to brace myself a few times just to make sure it was real,” Brown said after finishing in a tie for 18th that week.
“I’d say one of the coolest things I learned today was how underrated Scottie Scheffler’s short game is. To see him in person and just see the kind of trajectory and spin, and just the control he has with his wedges and the short game. Obviously, his putting is crazy, too. It was really cool to watch. So I’ll definitely keep working on it.”
When Brown left Palm Springs, he said he was “running his own race.” He would go to the PGA Tour on his own schedule. Whenever it arrived, it arrived. But for now, he was content to work his way through the Korn Ferry Tour, soaking up the multitude of lessons the nurturing tour has to offer someone who just turned 19 three days ago.
But things move fast and plans can change, especially when you’re blessed with incredible talent.
Brown’s run carried him into this week’s CJ Cup Byron Nelson at TPC Craig Ranch, where he had to do it with a sponsor’s invitation. Brown shot four rounds in the 60s, including a 4-under 67 on Sunday, to finish tied for 14th and earn enough FedEx Cup points to earn Special Provisional Membership on the PGA Tour. He only needed to finish in a tie for 21st this week to secure that award. That means Brown can now accept unlimited exemptions from sponsors for the remainder of the PGA Tour season, including the fall test. Players who do not have a Special Temporary Membership are limited to seven sponsor invitations.
Brown admitted he achieved Special Provisional Membership sooner than he expected, but that’s a product of being patient with the process since turning pro. Blades Brown knew that everything would not happen overnight and that he would have to focus on incremental progress before it would eventually lead him to his desired destination.
“I try to set my own goals and standards,” Brown said after his final round at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson. “It just happens. Like I just try to take it one shot at a time, control the controllables that I can and just try to let everything else happen on its own.”
Now, Brown faces another decision. He can commit fully to the PGA Tour for the rest of the season, which will allow him to try and play his way to a full-time membership in 2027 and next year’s Signature Events. He can fully commit to the Korn Ferry Tour for the rest of the season and try to earn his PGA Tour card for the 2027 season through the Korn Ferry Tour points system. Brown is currently 13th on the Korn Ferry Tour season points list. The top 20 at the end of the season get their PGA Tour cards for 2027. This might be the safest option, but it means he would not have access to Signature Events to start the 2027 season. The third option is for Brown to straddle both worlds and play in the tournaments he wants on both tours. That option could leave him with no tournament status in 2027 if he doesn’t play well.
Brown isn’t sure what path he will choose. He plans to play next week’s Korn Ferry event in Raleigh, North Carolina, and then he’ll choose a route to walk, knowing that the dirt holds the key regardless of his choice.
“Good golf takes care of everything,” Brown said. “The Korn Ferry Tour is great. For me, what it’s done for me is it’s given me a path to the PGA TOUR. The coolest thing I think it’s done is teach me to go down. I can’t thank the Korn Ferry Tour enough for teaching me those valuable lessons, because everybody out on the PGA TOUR (Scottie, look at Scottie), can go down. (Scheffler), see Si Woo (Kim) Twenty-one Eight-Under, 27-Under is no joke Without the Korn Ferry Tour, I wouldn’t have that strength.
“I’m excited for the next two weeks and to see what happens.”
Regardless of what Blades Brown chooses to do, he feels that becoming a special provisional member of the PGA Tour at the age of 19 has justified his decision to skip college and go into the deep end of golf as a teenager.
He has shown that he belongs. There’s more climbing to do, but Blades Brown is right where he’s supposed to be after securing a rare PGA Tour reward at TPC Craig Ranch this week. Whatever decision Brown makes, he has shown he can handle the ups and downs this election will bring.
“I’m not sure where I want to go right now,” Brown told CBS’s Amanda Balionis. “It’s a very cool place to be in. Saying that I now have special temporary status on the PGA Tour, the younger Blades would be like, “Do you have what?” For me to be able to say I’m a special temporary member on the PGA Tour is pretty sick.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do now. We’ll have to see.”
