17-year-old pro makes first PGA Tour cut using clever scoring game

Making your first cut on the PGA Tour is a big deal for any young player — but for 17-year-old phenom Blades Brown, who opted to forgo a collegiate career and turn pro right away, it’s especially impressive.

Brown fired rounds of 68-69 (-5) at the 2025 Mexico Open to earn a weekend tee time in comfortable fashion, with a two-shot cushion.

Still, Brown said he was grinding all the way to the end of the round.

“I’m so relieved that I was able to make the weekend,” Brown said after his round on Friday. “I had about a nine-footer for par on hole 17 and thankfully that dropped. I’m super thankful to be here. Playing golf on a golf course like this, it’s hard to beat.”

As he came down the stretch, Brown admitted to keeping tabs on the leaderboard but said he played a clever game with himself to stay focused on getting across the line into the weekend.

“I was trying to make many, many matches to myself saying OK, let’s try to shoot 2 under par on the last two holes,” Brown said. “I was kind of watching the cut line just to kind of see what it was going to be and I knew that it was going to be anywhere around 3 or 4 and I was happy to get in with 5.”

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Brown’s internal game-playing strategy can be useful at the recreational level, too. Whether you’re trying to break 70 or 100, choosing small, specific goals or challenges throughout your round can enable you to stay hyper-focused on the present without getting ahead of yourself.

For Brown, the Mexico Open will be the first check of his professional career. And regardless of where he finishes on Sunday, he’s thrilled to experience a tournament south of the border.

“I’m super happy to come down here to Mexico and speak some Spanish,” he said. “I took Spanish four years in high school, so I’m really happy I chose that over Latin.

“I’m having so much fun here at the resort and I can’t wait for the next two days.”