AUSTIN, Texas — Fresh off becoming the youngest PGA Tour winner in 95 years, 19-year-old Blades Brown had enough energy to make nine birdies Thursday for a 7-under 65 that quickly got him into the mix at the Austin Championship, three shots behind Trace Crowe and his career-best 62.
Brown’s playoff victory last week in Mexico all but assured him a pair of $20 million signature events early next year, and now he has his eyes on the Masters if he can finish the year in the top 50 in the world ranking. The win moved him to No. 62.
But this was only a start on an Omni Barton Creek course that yielded low scoring before darkness suspended the first round with 25 players yet to finish.
Ahead of him was Crowe, who is in danger of losing his PGA Tour card for the second time in three years. He is at No. 117 in the FedEx Cup Fall with two tournaments to go, although he gets a few more starts early next year because of wrist surgery that kept him from starting until April.
Crowe found an adjustment in his swing with the driver and made 10 birdies. He putted for birdie on every hole except the par-3 11th, where his tee shot went over the green and he chipped to tap-in range for par.
“Just every part of my game was good. It didn’t feel fluky at all,” said Crowe, who matched his PGA Tour low of 63 two weeks ago. “Every part of it was just kind of like full go. Made some nice putts and count ’em up, 62, yeah.”
He had a two-shot lead over Erik van Rooyen and Max Greyserman, who barely beat darkness by holing a 70-foot chip on the par-5 18th for eagle and a 64.
Brown chose not to withdraw after winning the World Wide Technology Championship, going straight to the Hill Country of Texas to a city he had never visited and a course he had never seen. That’s to be expected given his youth. Then again, he’s used to quick turnaround.
Brown began the year by going from a Korn Ferry Tour event in the Bahamas that ended on a Wednesday to the California desert for The American Express. He wound up in the final group before getting outplayed by Scottie Scheffler.
“I’m starting to get back to normal,” Brown said. “Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday I was still kind of coming off of Sunday. After a couple hours of sleep I’m feeling a lot better. Get some food in me, yeah, feeling back to normal.”
He is leaving quite an impression already. Michael Kim last week and Max Homa on Thursday have both played with Brown and consider him the best of the growing class of youngsters.
Brown wasn’t the youngest in the field. Miles Russell, a high school senior who plans to play at Florida State next year, shot a 67.
Not to be overlooked was Jackson Koivun, who left Auburn in June and already has a PGA Tour title and an unbeaten record in the Presidents Cup. Koivun ran into trouble around the turn, but hit into 5 feet from 258 yards away on the par-5 14th. He wound up with a 70.
The tournament is the first in Austin since the Match Play Championship in 2023.