THE AMERICAN EXPRESS

January 25, 2026

Blades Brown

PGA WEST Pete Dye Stadium Course

Quick Quotes

Q. Maybe not the Sunday you were hoping for, but just can you describe the week and what it was like?

BLADES BROWN: Yeah, I have so much to take away from this week. Getting to play with Scottie Scheffler in the final group at 18 years old is -- I had to pinch myself couple of times just to make sure I was, you know, this was real. Not the Sunday that I would have liked, but I overall had so much fun playing the American Express this week.

Q. As you look back on today, nerves, swing, what was it as you kind of look back?

BLADES BROWN: I was feeling really good throughout the entire round. I would say one of the coolest things that I learned today was how underrated Scottie Scheffler's short game is. I have not, I mean, to see it in person and just to look at kind of the trajectory and the spin, and just the control that he has with his wedges and short game. Obviously his putting is insane too. It was really cool to watch. So I'm definitely going to go work on that.

Q. You ready for a rest?

BLADES BROWN: I mean, yeah. Yeah. Yeah I'm ready. Yeah.

Q. Could you feel that at all out there? Eight days of competitive golf is a lot.

BLADES BROWN: I feel like the more golf I play the more I just feel -- I would say that it was a good thing. Eight rounds I know sounds like a lot, but I was having a lot of fun. You're telling me I get to play in a PGA TOUR event and to play with Scottie Scheffler and see him win it, that was insane.

Q. Do you take a lot of confidence from this week?

BLADES BROWN: Absolutely. I got some things I got to sharpen up, and hopefully we see if we can do what Scottie's doing.

Q. What were you trying to do with your tee shot on the 5th hole, and did you consider dropping it on the tee box?

BLADES BROWN: 5th hole? Oh, yeah, the par-5. Yeah, so a little unfortunate, just pulled it a little bit and then went in the water. I thought I could maybe carry the left side of the water if I dropped closer. Then we got up there and it was still kind of a stretch. So then we hit a 2-iron to the right, was in the rough, and, yeah, a little unfortunate. But I knew that there was a lot of golf left and I'm just so thankful to be here.

Q. What did you learn from today?

BLADES BROWN: I mean, shoot, I could probably write a book (laughing) about what I've learned these past couple of days. Just knowing that I can compete out here. It was so cool watching Scottie win in person and getting to play with him. He's such an unbelievable guy. He talked to me numerous times throughout the round and was giving me a lot of encouragement, so it was awesome.

Q. You obviously took an untraditional path. Recently a lot of kids going to college. Are weeks like this, your continued success on Korn Ferry Tour, more validation that that was the right decision for me?

BLADES BROWN: Everyone's got their own path and I'm running my race. But I think that there's a lot of really good junior and amateur talent coming up, and I wouldn't be surprised if we saw another amateur make a run.