16-year-old Blades Brown rallied to make the cut at the PGA Tour’s Myrtle Beach Classic

Blades Brown refused to let his PGA Tour debut end after 36 holes.

The 16-year-old sophomore from Tennessee caught fire to make the cut at the Myrtle Beach Classic, shooting a 4-under 67 in Friday’s second round to qualify for the weekend.

Brown made five birdies in all and closed with four over his final nine holes. That included back-to-back birdies on holes No. 6 and 7, part of his back nine after he teed off on No. 10 to start the day. He recorded just one bogey after making six in his 1-over 72 opening round Thursday.

Brown received a sponsor exemption to play in Myrtle Beach this week while the PGA Tour’s main event, the Wells Fargo Championship, is being played in Charlotte, North Carolina. He is the top-ranked golfer in the Class of 2026, No. 4 in the AJGA rankings and No. 176 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking.

He became the second consecutive 16-year-old to make the cut in a PGA Tour sponsored event. England’s Kris Kim did so at last week’s CJ Cup Byron Nelson. Miles Russell, 15, tied for 20th at the Korn Ferry Tour’s Lecom Suncoast Classic last month.

Brown finished above multiple past PGA Tour winners, including former Vanderbilt and Montgomery Bell Academy star Brandt Snedeker (5 over), Aaron Baddeley (1 under), Ryan Moore (1 under), Bill Haas (1 under) and Kevin Kisner (even-par).

Brown’s exemption stems from his record-breaking performance in last summer’s U.S. Amateur, the nation’s premier amateur championship. He broke Bobby Jones’ record as the youngest medalist in U.S. Amateur history, tying for first place in the tournament’s stroke play portion. Brown was eliminated in the match play portion in the Round of 32 but earned recognition as one of the nation’s top rising stars.

He became a client of Sportfive sports marketing agency and now has NIL deals with Callaway and New Jersey-based Transcend Capital Advisors.

Brown’s been on the radar in Tennessee for some time. He has won three consecutive TSSAA Division II-AA individual titles and last season set the Tennessee Junior Amateur Championship record for the lowest score in tournament history, finishing 22 under in 54 holes.

In 2023, he was the first to win Tennessee Boys’ Junior and Men’s Player of the Year honors in the same year.