THE AMERICAN EXPRESS

January 17, 2025

Blades Brown

PGA WEST Pete Dye Stadium Course

Quick Quotes

Q. Really, really good round today. What was working out there for you?

BLADES BROWN: Just consistency. Hitting fairways, hitting greens, making putts. I like to make golf simple, and yesterday I didn't make golf simple, but just trying to hit as many fairways and greens as I could, luckily today that was the case.

Q. Was there anything that you tinkered with or changed from equipment or just your mindset from yesterday going into today?

BLADES BROWN: I would just say my process. It's really easy to get sped up out here with all the people and cameras. I said a couple prayers and just, I play golf right now for a living, and I promise you, there are a lot more challenging things than playing golf for a living. Whether it's a kid lying in a bed in cancer, there's a lot to be grateful for out here. I think keeping it in perspective that you get to play golf for free on an unbelievable golf course and with awesome people, so I think just keeping it in perspective definitely helped me today.

Q. At the start of your round you bogeyed the second hole, but looking at your scorecard it almost seemed to wake you up, you went on a tear after that and kept it up. Did that bogey wake you up in a sense and get you going a little bit?

BLADES BROWN: I will say I did feel a lot more comfortable today than I did yesterday. Yesterday my adrenaline was up a lot, and today I started to kind of get into my zone and was able to hit the shots that I wanted to.

Q. Is there anything that you've been able to take with your playing partners, with Isaiah, seeing how a guy who has played on the Korn Ferry Tour, he's a rookie on TOUR, seeing how he maybe does things, how he just handles a round?

BLADES BROWN: Yeah, I feel like if you're just breathing air out here you're going to learn something. I was able to learn a lot from him, he's a great guy, and he went to Stanford so automatically he's super smart, and we had a lots of conversations. But then visiting with Anthony and Johnny was so much fun. I think just talking with them relaxed me a little bit and I was able to execute the shots that I needed to execute.

Q. Obviously still got another round tomorrow, maybe another one on Sunday, but just seeing the support you have from your team and your family out here, just what does that mean to you?

BLADES BROWN: It's so cool. Callaway has done an unbelievable job supporting me saying, Hey, if you need this many gloves, let me know what you need. Their equipment is awesome, I love their equipment. For my family, I've gotten so many texts from my friends and rest of my family saying, Hey, good luck and play well. It's just, it adds another aura playing for somebody you know that loves you.

Q. I would be remiss if I didn't ask this: Did your mom bring your pickleball stuff?

BLADES BROWN: Yes.

Q. Did you guys hit the courts yet?

BLADES BROWN: My dad is like, Hey, wait a second, you're in a tournament right now, you better wait. But I might go play a little bit, yeah. Definitely ping pong though. I'm hitting up the ping pong table, yeah.

Q. (No microphone.)

BLADES BROWN: Hey, yeah, Jack is not very good at ping pong, so, you know. He said he's got to get warmed up.

Q. A little bit of a slow start yesterday, a little bit of a slow start today, both times followed by runs of birdies. Does that just mean you put it away, or are you really just a one-hole-at-a-time guy?

BLADES BROWN: Golf's a funny game. You can shoot 6-under par through six holes or you can shoot 6-over par through six holes. I think being patient and knowing the birdies are there and they're going to come is so crucial out here, especially on really hard golf courses such as Nicklaus and the Stadium. But I'm really looking forward to get after it tomorrow.

Q. When you get to three birdies in a row then do you think four, do you think five, do you think six?

BLADES BROWN: When I got three in a row I was like Okay, we got to get the putter in my hand. I love to putt, putting is my favorite aspect of golf. Yesterday I was having a difficult time getting the putter in my hand. Luckily I was able to get the putter in my hand a lot today, so it was a lot of fun.

Q. Charley Hoffman was here, after his 63, Captain Hoffman, can I call him that for you?

BLADES BROWN: Yeah. Right here. (Indicating.)

Q. He said the one thing that stands out about you from that experience was he got up to go to the gym and got to the gym and you were already there.

BLADES BROWN: Yeah.

Q. And that that's kind of your work ethic. Is that obviously one of the things that you cherish your work ethic?

BLADES BROWN: Absolutely. I think I get that from every -- my mom and my dad. My mom's a hard worker. My dad's, he's built a business up of basically nothing. I love going to the weight room. Jack, my caddie, he's followed me into the weight room every single time. He probably doesn't -- like I look over and he's doing some weird exercise, and I'm over here doing something else. But it's, I love the gym and that's the place where I love to be.

Q. First two rounds of the two easiest courses, at least in the rotation, that means you've got the Stadium Course tomorrow. It has been demonstrably tougher this year, with the greens I think. You practiced over there, I assume both nines?

BLADES BROWN: Yeah, so we got, easy is La Quinta, which even par at the easiest course, probably isn't the best thing. But, and then played really well today on Nicklaus, and then hardest course tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to get after it. I'm going to go execute the shots I know I can and we're going to see where that leads to.

Q. Nice playing today, 17 years old, you come out here, pro debut, is some of it is like house money, or do you have a mindset that I'm going to try to grind, make the cut, win the tournament like guys been out here 10, 15 years?

BLADES BROWN: Yeah I think it's super cool, the PGA TOUR I think is the best TOUR for golf, and it's been a dream of mine to play on it ever since I could remember playing golf. To be able to play out here with against some of the best or the best golfers in the world is awesome.

Q. For this experience and future experiences what are you hoping to learn, are there specific things you're hoping to take in?

BLADES BROWN: I wouldn't say specific things. Obviously making as many birdies as you can. I'm picking everybody's brains out here. Everybody's been like -- I met Justin Thomas this morning, he gave me a little pat on the back, and he said, Hey, man, go low today. And I was like, Well, if Justin Thomas says to go low, I should probably go low. But, it's awesome just seeing the support out here and I can't wait for what's to come.

Q. Lastly, I see you got the Whoop band on there. What's the metric that you like to look at after you're done playing golf?

BLADES BROWN: So I don't know how it calculates strain and everything, I think it says 21 is equal equivalent of a marathon. But I look at sleep. I got seven hours last night, and my dad was like, Seven hours? You went to bed at 10 I thought. And I was like, yeah (laughing). Making sure I'm getting enough sleep, using it for that.

Q. Was there anything, how was last night after playing your first round, maybe not having it go exactly how you wanted?

BLADES BROWN: Yeah, the first thing or the first time playing on the PGA TOUR as a pro, it definitely has a little bit of weight to it. After a good night's sleep last night, seven hours, I woke up this morning, felt like another day of golf. I'm super happy that the weight kind of felt lifted off my shoulders and I was able to execute the shots that I needed to today.

Q. Something on your putting, seems like you're pretty quick over the ball. Just any, you know, not bringing your caddie much in, you kind of stand over it, not much practice strokes, take me through your routine.

BLADES BROWN: So, Brandt Snedeker and I, we were playing a pro-am before a Korn Ferry Tour event in Nashville. We played the front nine, I went second to last, he went last, and we were just cold, like we didn't make a single putt at all. Then Brandt said, All right, hold on, let me putt first. He did not miss a putt on the back nine. And so we were thinking, why is that, like why, I mean, you get read, it's supposed to be an easier putt, right. I think there's a lot of different ways to putt and whatever works for you might not work for somebody else, but each person has their own distinct way to putt, and I think that's what each person should work on.

Q. You said putter is your favorite.

BLADES BROWN: Love to putt.

Q. Is that just like at home constantly playing games, doing whatever?

BLADES BROWN: I just think there's an art to it. And, I mean, I'm not an artist, but I am an artist on the putting green. So I just, I love to be able to make some putts, because, I mean, that's the most precise you got to be playing golf, and I just, I love to putt.