Blades Brown couldn’t flip off airplane mode on his telephone quick sufficient.
Brown, the 17-year-old hotshot who’s making his skilled debut this week at The American Categorical, noticed loads of golf programs on the flight into Palm Springs but in addition an appetizing quantity of pickleball courts. Brown, who comes from a sporting household, guesses he’s about scratch on the hardcourt.
Upon touchdown, Brown fired up his telephone and instantly texted his mom, Rhonda, who performed within the WNBA and recorded the primary 3-pointer in league historical past: Convey my pickleball stuff. We’re taking part in this week.
Brown was additionally welcoming all challengers contained in the media heart on the ping-pong desk.
“I’m completely right down to play,” Brown mentioned. “Simply let me know.”
(Wait till he discovers Larry Bohannan of the Desert Solar possesses a depraved serve.)
Brown is about to search out out a number of issues as he embarks on this subsequent chapter, the place he’ll solely want his golf golf equipment, some balls and copious quantities of guts. It’s a excessive dive that Nick Dunlap is aware of effectively. It was one 12 months in the past right here at PGA West that Dunlap grew to become the primary novice since Phil Mickelson in 1991 to win an official PGA Tour occasion. Days later, Dunlap was foregoing his closing two and a half seasons on the College of Alabama and cannonballing proper into the skilled waters, the place expectations in some way exceed the purses of the signature occasions for which Dunlap was instantly certified for.
Dunlap received once more, in July on the Barracuda Championship, however he wasn’t spared the rising pains both – poor finishes, loneliness, and to high all of it off, a authorized dispute together with his former company, which was settled final October.
“I knew it was going to be a studying curve,” Dunlap mentioned. “I wasn’t anticipating to return out and dominate early. You go from faculty golf to taking part in towards the most effective gamers on the planet, that’s an enormous soar.”
Brown remembers watching Dunlap make historical past – he even recalled Tuesday the size of Dunlap’s successful par save (6 toes).
“It simply gave me a lot inspiration to know that someone else much like my age is in a position to do this,” Brown mentioned. “After which it raises the query, What if I can try this?”
Now, he may.
Brown, a homeschooled, high-school junior from Nashville, Tennessee, was courted by each elite faculty within the nation earlier than ending his recruiting course of a pair months in the past, and he bowed out of junior golf because the AJGA’s top-ranked participant. He’s nonetheless, for not less than yet one more day, No. 74 within the World Novice Golf Rating, boosted by medalist honors on the 2023 U.S. Novice and final 12 months’s U.S. Junior Novice – Brown, Tiger Woods and Bobby Clampett are the one gamers to perform that spectacular USGA double – and T-26 finally season’s Myrtle Seashore Traditional, Brown’s solely PGA Tour begin to date.
On the similar time, Brown didn’t dominate his friends, names similar to Miles Russell and Luke Colton, in the identical method that the likes of Akshay Bhatia and Joaquin Niemann – two gamers who bypassed faculty golf for the professionals – did on the junior degree. (Brown really shares an agent with Bhatia, Sportfive’s Tommy Riehle.)
However there’s no denying Brown is particular, an athletic child with a soar shot practically nearly as good as his placing stroke. He’s charismatic, fearless and appears to appreciate that this isn’t a dash – as a lot as he in all probability needs it was.
“I really feel such as you’re put able out right here the place it’s important to get higher,” mentioned Brown, who will seemingly depend on sponsor exemptions for begins till Q-Faculty this fall. “Enjoying towards individuals similar to Xander Schauffele, Scottie Scheffler, I imply, you study from the most effective. I really feel like that’s life, you study each day. I’m in all probability not going to be going to highschool in faculty, however I’m going to be going to highschool on the PGA Tour, in order that sounds fairly good to me.”
There might be many who will count on Brown to comply with in Dunlap’s footsteps this week within the desert.
Brown, nonetheless, is grateful for the chance – or as the youngsters say, “Pumped!” – realizing this might be an extended course of, whether or not he goes low these subsequent few days or not. Like every teenager, he desires to have enjoyable, hopefully make a ton of birdies after which construct for the following match.
He simply received’t tolerate dropping to his mother in pickleball.
