Blades Brown shows no hangover with opening 65 in Austin, one week after breakthrough PGA Tour win

AUSTIN, Texas – Blades Brown said all the right things during his pre-tournament press conference in Austin. He was thrilled with his breakthrough win in Mexico at the World Wide Technology Championship a week ago. All of it had sunk in. He was grateful for the support. He was tired, too.

But he was also ready to move on. A new week brought new challenges he was ready to tackle. He wasn’t showing up in Austin just to check a box. All of that is easy to say and much harder to follow through on, particularly as Brown, only 19 years old, navigates the immense afterglow of a historic victory.

We’re learning new things about Brown each day. We learned on Thursday to take him at his word.

Brown shot 7-under 65 in his first round at the Austin Championship presented by Compliance Solutions, jumping right back into contention in his first competitive round since his win last week. There was no hangover.

“I think just taking it one shot at a time. It's really easy to let your mind wander and all of a sudden look at the leaderboards,” Brown said. “Rather than running from, I guess, that type of pressure, I've learned to just embrace it.”

Those elevated expectations, and the pressure that follows, will only grow in the coming months as more is asked of him and he spends more time in the spotlight. Successfully navigating all of that will become just as important as the state of his golf swing and ability to read greens. He passed his first test with flying colors.

Brown hit all but two fairways and negated two bogeys with nine birdies in a stellar first round at Omni Barton Creek Resort & Spa. Playing alongside multi-time PGA Tour winners Max Homa and Andrew Novak, Brown looked the most seasoned of the trio, hole high with nearly every approach and rarely in danger.

“I like to have the most consistent, simple game as I can,” Brown said. “I watched Tiger Woods all the time, and he's hitting in the trees and doing all these crazy shots. I like it right down the middle of the fairway, hit it on the green and try to make the putt.

“Boring golf, video game golf, that's the type of golf I like,” Brown said.

For most Tour players, that’s the type of golf that works. But Brown has most recently been compared to a former teenage sensation who plays much more like Woods: Jordan Spieth. When Brown won in Mexico, he became the fourth-youngest player ever to win a Tour event. The next youngest in the modern era was Spieth, who won as a slightly older 19-year-old at the 2013 John Deere Classic. Brown was six years old.

Will Brown’s rise be similar? It’s impossible to know now, but it does appear he – alongside Jackson Koivun – may usher in a new wave of explosive young talent, as Spieth did in his time.

Among them is Kihei Akina, the 20-year-old BYU sophomore who is more than halfway to earning his Tour card via PGA Tour University Accelerated. Others like Cole Sherwood were part of Brown’s graduating Korn Ferry Tour class and will be on Tour next year.

Brown isn’t even the only teenager in contention in Austin. Miles Russell, 18, shot 5 under on Thursday and may be a factor this weekend.

“The next stage of golf is going to be a lot of fun,” Brown said. “I have a lot of friends in college who are just itching to get back out here.”

While they fight to establish themselves on Tour, Brown’s place is already solidified. With last week's win, he holds status on Tour through 2028. He will play the inaugural season of the PGA Tour Championship Series. He’s in line to qualify for Signature Events next year and is teetering on the edge of receiving a Masters invite.

If Thursday is any indication, those remaining stakes may be wrapped up this Sunday, with Brown holding another trophy.