MYRTLE BEACH CLASSIC

May 6, 2026

Blades Brown

Dunes Golf and Beach Club

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: We are joined with Blades Brown here at the ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic. Blades, you're making your third start here where you made your PGA TOUR debut two years ago. What did you remember about your first start on tour?

BLADES BROWN: I remember it was awesome. I've never seen that many people follow my group. Just to be able to have that experience at such a young age at 16 was incredible. So, yeah, I'm really looking forward to playing the golf tournament this week.

THE MODERATOR: What do you reflect back from when you made that first start in 2024 to where you are now?

BLADES BROWN: I'm 18 years old right now, and a lot can change in it two years. I feel like I'm a totally different player than I was two years ago. The golf course is pure. I know there's some weather coming in, but I'm really excited for this week.

THE MODERATOR: Just got done playing the pro-am. Usually a lot of times you're making starts on tour, you're seeing the course for the first time, but this is probably the first time you've already played this twice. How nice is that knowing you've seen the Dunes before?

BLADES BROWN: I'm able to kind of -- I'm not saying go on autopilot, but it's nice knowing the golf course. You don't have to hit a bunch of chips, hit a bunch of putts. You can kind of just about your business and play nine holes and go practice a little bit and get up out of here.

THE MODERATOR: Last year when making the cut was a perk that you got some credit with ONEflight. For those that don't know, kind of fill us in on the story about how you're able to use that credit to get all the way from Bahamas to The American Express in La Quinta.

BLADES BROWN: Last year -- when you make the cut at the Myrtle Beach Classic, you get a black card that says ONEflight on it, and it has five free ONEflight hours, which was so cool. It was a massive key. In order to get from -- so I was playing a Korn Ferry event in Abaco, the Bahamas, which is all the way down here, and La Quinta is across the country. So I was able to use those ONEflight hours to get from Abaco to La Quinta.

I thought it was so cool because it was a black card that came in a briefcase like this. I was, like, oh, my gosh, this is legit. No, it was awesome. I can't thank ONEflight enough for giving me that opportunity.

THE MODERATOR: How much did you know into planning once you kind of had that credit that it could come into play for that very reason?

BLADES BROWN: Honestly I didn't know when he was going to use the ONEflight hours. Then it just so happened to be the perfect key to going from Abaco to La Quinta. So I'm happy it worked out.

That jet was awesome. So Ferren, he came and picked me up, and it was the coolest thing ever. I felt like I was in a movie. I've never seen a plane that big.

He said, yeah, I got this just for you. I was, like, this is a $40 million jet. Oh, my gosh. It was a little bit better than Southwest, I would say.

THE MODERATOR: Last tour start was Zurich, so a little different format. Was playing with Luke Clanton. How is your game feeling after a week off, and what were some of the big takeaways playing with Luke?

BLADES BROWN: Yeah, Luke is an awesome player. He strikes the ball. He has a little more ball speed than me. I was, like, Dude, I'll hit the fairway, you just give it all you got.

Luke is an awesome player. He's an awesome putter. I kind of wish we made a couple more putts just because I wanted to see some Luke Clanton fist pumps.

The Zurich Classic was awesome. I'm looking forward to playing in that event sometime soon. Yeah, it was a nice week off. I'm happy to be back in Myrtle Beach.

THE MODERATOR: Just right before Zurich and Tulum was in contention, what was the big learning of a great weekend there?

BLADES BROWN: Yeah, I just think it's very important that I just focus on continuous improvement. As long as my game is getting better and I keep putting myself in that position and contention week in, week out, hopefully one day it will fall into place, so...

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Blades, you're playing specifically on sponsor exemptions on the PGA TOUR this year, correct?

BLADES BROWN: Yes.

Q. How many do you have remaining until you have to hit that temporary status where you would be allowed unlimited sponsor exemptions?

BLADES BROWN: I don't know the exact amount. I know I have I think three remaining after this week. I know that if I top-10, I kind of get to bank a sponsor exemption and play the next week. So I'm not 100% sure about the points, but I'm just looking forward to playing this week.

Q. Do you have specific events that you know that you want to play in that you've already applied for and have planned out in your schedule?

BLADES BROWN: Yeah, I mean, to be honest, I have an awesome team around me Sportfive that handle all of that. They make it easy for me to just go out and play golf. There's definitely going to be some strategic moves there, but as of right now, I'm just focused on playing the Myrtle Beach Classic.

Q. Is your family here again?

BLADES BROWN: Yes.

Q. I think they've been here the past two years.

BLADES BROWN: So my dad is here. He wouldn't miss. I have this funny saying with my family. My dad is ride or die. He's going to California. Shoot, he would go to Antarctica if he could, but he's going to be there.

Then my mom, she likes to come to the big events, so like this week, PGA TOUR events. Then my sister, I have an older sister, she's 22, and she only cares if there's a beach. Are she will probably be here this week. Not watching me, but on the beach, so...

Q. Feel free to answer this or not, but how is your dad doing physically and health-wise?

BLADES BROWN: He's doing really good. Unfortunately with leukemia it doesn't go away, but it is cool that after treatment he was able to postpone a lot of that recovery process.

He'll have about 10 to 15 more years before he'll have to do treatment again, but it's so special getting to watch him walk down the fairway getting to talk to as many people as he can. My parents have played such an influential part in my life. I'm very blessed to have them both out here this week, and it should be a lot of fun.

Q. At one point was he given a diagnosis that he wasn't supposed to make it this far?

BLADES BROWN: The doctors originally thought it was bone cancer. So it's a shock whenever the doctor says that your dad only has six months to live, but luckily, they figured out it was just -- I forgot what type of leukemia, but it was -- I think sickle cell leukemia. They were, like, hey, he's got an 80% recovery rate, and he looked cancer right in the face and said, "Not today." It was pretty cool.

Q. Just a day like today I think a lot of people don't understand maybe the value of a pro-am and just being loose out there. What is a day like today too to get you ready, and how nice is it to have a day like today that you're playing with Nick Swisher and having fun? What's a day like today like?

BLADES BROWN: I love Wednesday pro-ams because these guys are a massive influence in just kind of the tournament. That's what I love about pro-ams is you get to make awesome relationships.

Swisher, I call him Swish Dog, we were just having fun. He was hitting 180-mile-an-hour ball speed bombs, and we were just having a good time. While I was doing my business, he and I were kind of talking about professional sports and just kind of -- because baseball and golf, they're not the same, but they're kind of the same, if that makes sense mentally.

I love Wednesday pro-ams, and it was a lot of fun today.

Q. A lot of 18-year-olds are right now doing graduation, prom, stuff like that. The cool thing is you're getting to travel and play golf. Talk a little bit about the trade-off, the ups and downs of being in that situation.

BLADES BROWN: I'm still 18 years old. Actually I turn 19 coming up May 21st. Yeah, I mean, yeah, there are trade-offs in everything that you do, but what's really cool is I still hang out with my friends a lot.

Whenever I go back home to Nashville, I always say, hey, you guys want to play pickleball, you guys want to play basketball, what do you all want to do? It's so cool because they'll send me a text after a tournament and say, Hey, Blades, we were watching you the entire time, it's so cool to be able to watch you up there.

I'm so blessed to be in the position that I am, and I can't wait for the Myrtle Beach Classic this week.

Q. Blades, you had talked about how much things can change in two years. Can you talk a little bit about how your expectations have changed from coming here as a 16-year-old on a sponsor exemption to now a guy that probably believes he's got a real shot to win event?

BLADES BROWN: Yeah, so expectations are a weird thing, right? It's almost like a -- it's a weird thing. If you focus on expectations, for me the thing that I've done to help me cope with that is just continuous improvement. As long as I'm doing what I can control and controlling the controllables and just focusing on continuing to get better and becoming the best player that I can be, that's what helps me deal with expectations, so...

THE MODERATOR: AMEX, got to play with Scottie Scheffler. Are there players like Scottie or any others Korn Ferry TOUR or tour, that you kind of pick their brain or been able to give you some advice?

BLADES BROWN: Yeah, yeah, I'm big buddies with Andrew Novak and Ben Griffin, and they've been so awesome. Every time I see them, I remember Ben was looking at me like this, and we're just having fun games, right?

I'll pick their brains kind of how they approach golf and some of the things that they do. They make golf look really easy. I'm always up to learning and learning from the best.