The last time Blades Brown faced a choice, he took the unconventional route. He was a 17-year-old budding golf star who chose to forgo college to turn pro and pursue his dream of playing on the PGA Tour rather than postpone the climb.
Brown’s foray into professional golf hasn’t been a smooth ride. He made just three cuts in eight starts on the PGA Tour 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 final group at the American Express with Scottie Scheffler and Si Woo Kim. Brown stumbled on Sunday and lost the tournament, but the 18-hole walk with Scheffler on a Sunday gave him something priceless.
“Getting to play with Scottie Scheffler in the final group at 18 years old is — I had to pinch myself couple of times just to make sure this was real,” Brown said after finishing in a tie for 18th that week.
“I would say one of the coolest things that I learned today was how underrated Scottie Scheffler’s short game is. To see it in person and just to look at kind of the trajectory and the spin, and just the control that he has with his wedges and short game. Obviously, his putting is insane, too. It was really cool to watch. So I’m definitely going to go work on that.”
When Brown left Palm Springs, he said he was “running his own race.” He’d get to the PGA Tour on his own schedule. Whenever it arrived, it arrived. But for now, he was content with grinding his way up through the Korn Ferry Tour, soaking up the myriad of lessons the feeder 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 prodigious talent.
Brown’s race led him to this week’s CJ Cup Byron Nelson at TPC Craig Ranch, where he got to tee it up on a sponsor invite. Brown carded four rounds in the 60s, including a 4-under 67 on Sunday, to finish in a tie for 14th and earn enough FedEx Cup points to gain Special Temporary Membership on the PGA Tour. He only needed to finish in a tie for 21st this week to secure that prize. That means that Brown can now accept unlimited sponsor exemptions through the remainder of the PGA Tour season, including the fall slate. Players who don’t have Special Temporary Membership are capped at seven sponsor invites.
Brown admitted that he achieved Special Temporary Membership faster than he anticipated, but that’s the product of being patient with the process since turning pro. Blades Brown knew that everything wouldn’t happen overnight and that he would have to focus on incremental progress before that 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 kind of 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 would allow him to try and play his way to a full-time membership in 2027 and into next year’s Signature Events. He can commit fully 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 season-long Korn Ferry Tour points list. The top 20 at the end of the season get their PGA Tour cards for 2027. That might be the safer option, but it would mean he wouldn’t have access to the 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 without status on either tour in 2027 if he doesn’t play well.
Brown isn’t sure what path he’ll choose. He plans to play in next week’s Korn Ferry event in Raleigh, North Carolina, and then will pick a road 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 awesome. For me, what it’s done for me is it’s provided me a pathway to the PGA TOUR. The cool thing that I think it’s done is it’s taught me to go low. I can’t thank the Korn Ferry Tour enough for teaching me those valuable lessons, because everybody out on the PGA TOUR, they can go low. Look at Wyndham [Clark], look at Scottie [Scheffler], look at Si Woo [Kim]. Twenty-eight-under, 27-under is not a joke. Without the Korn Ferry Tour, I would not have had that strength.
“I’m excited for the next couple of weeks and see what’s going to happen.”
No matter what Blades Brown chooses to do, he feels that having Special Temporary Membership on the PGA Tour at age 19 has vindicated his decision to pass on college and jump into pro golf’s deep end as a teenager.
He has shown 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 weather the ups and downs that choice will bring.
“I’m unsure of where I want to go as of right now,” Brown told CBS’ Amanda Balionis. “It’s a pretty cool spot to be in. Saying that I now have Special Temporary status on the PGA Tour, younger Blades would be like, ‘You have what?’ For me to be able to say that I’m a Special Temporary Member on the PGA Tour is pretty sick.
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