Eighteen-year-old Blades Brown missed a final-hole six-foot putt to shoot an incredible 59 at the American Express Open, but still finished with a course record that gave Scottie Scheffler the lead after two rounds.
Brown needed a birdie from his final three holes, but a wild second shot on the par-five seventh left him trying for par before again settling for par on the par-three eighth.
That gave him a hole to clinch the birdie that would write him into the history books, but his attempt was pushed to the right and went past the hole. That left him one short putt to break the course record of 60.
It is the lowest round in PGA Tour history by an 18-year-old since 1983 and ties him with Scheffler atop the leaderboard at 17 under par.
In his first round, he shot strong 67s, and on Friday came Brown’s moment. However, he will be agonizing over being so close to being the 16th player ever to shoot a 59 on the PGA Tour.
And did Brown feel the pressure on the final hole?
“Absolutely, of course I did,” Brown said.
“I stuck to my game plan, I executed a game plan I could control. I couldn’t get it this time, but I’m so excited.
“I was actually quite calm, I was just looking at how beautiful this golf course was – I was just looking at the water out there.
“Sometimes you just need something to calm you down and I just said ‘I’m going to make this shot I can and make this line I can see.’
“Unfortunately it didn’t work out, but I’m happy with the result I got today.
“Scottie is an incredible player and to have my name next to his on the leaderboard.
“This weekend I’m just going to focus on making the shots I can and see what happens.
“I’m going to take a nap and they’ll look it up tomorrow.”
Starting on the back nine, six birdies and an eagle raised eyebrows and piqued interest, with Brown rounding the corner without dropping a shot as pars on the 17th and 18th saw him eight under.
His front nine wasn’t as electrifying, but with birdies on the second fourth, fifth and sixth he entered the final three holes needing a birdie to add his name to the history books.
It was made even more dramatic by the fact that the 18-year-old finished tied for 17th at the Bahamas Great Abaco Classic on the Korn Ferry Tour on Wednesday afternoon in what was their second event of the season. He then flew over 3,000 miles to California without practice rounds to join The American Express.
Meanwhile, Scheffler accompanied a first round 63 with a second round 64 as he added eight birdies and no bogeys and is now joined by the teenager at the top of the table on 17 under after a sensational 12 under 60.
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