Blades Brown, 18, keeps rolling at the 2026 American Express

Blades Brown made 75 feet in putts on his final three holes in the third round of the 2026 American Express in La Quinta, California, to cap off his seventh straight day of competitive golf.

Brown — an 18-year-old from Nashville — fired a 4-under 68 on Saturday at the Pete Dye Stadium Course to follow up his record-breaking 60 on Friday at the Nicklaus Tournament Course. The recent high school graduate sits in a tie for second with World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler at 21 under, one shot behind outright leader Si Woo Kim.

"I feel great," Brown said. "I got another opportunity to see what we can make happen tomorrow. Got another 18 holes and [it] should be fun."

Sunday will be Brown's eighth straight day of tour golf. He competed in the Korn Ferry Tour's Bahamas Great Abaco Classic, which ended on Wednesday, before catching a cross-country flight to the Palm Springs area for the American Express, where he's playing on a sponsor exemption.

This type of golf marathon would be grueling for most, but it doesn't seem to be bothering the young phenom one bit, as he appears to be having the time of his life in La Quinta, evidenced by his stopping to play rock-paper-scissors with a young fan in the gallery on the 17th Saturday. He proceeded to drain a 25-footer for birdie and give a point to his coach in the commentary booth before strutting off the green with a signature swagger, earning applause from his playing partner David Ford.

Because of his birdie, fans on the 17th received a discount on beers. That was news to Brown, who has a few years to wait before he can enjoy that kind of celebratory beverage. "No way?" Brown remarked. "Well, I'll make sure to go get some bottled water and I'll have my bottled water then."

Rock, Paper, Scissors, Birdie.

📺 Golf Channel pic.twitter.com/791HFLkDbZ

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 24, 2026

The Blades Brown party continued on the 18th when he sunk a 45-foot putt for birdie to send the crowd into a frenzy and himself into Sunday with a chance to secure his first win in just his 10th start on the PGA Tour.

"It was surreal," Brown said. "That's what you practice for. That's what late nights that you're going out to putt and pretending that you have a putt to win the Masters, that right there is what it's all about."

Blades Brown finishes with a THIRD straight birdie, and the PGA West crowd loves it. ⚡️😤 pic.twitter.com/hIi98nf0Pw

— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) January 24, 2026

The putt didn't quite win him a Green Jacket, but it's one that golf fans won't soon forget, especially if he goes on to complete the monumental feat of dispatching many of the world's best players on the big stage.

"I'm just excited to be playing the weekend," Brown said. "I'm so grateful to be out here. My team has just been phenomenal. I'm just a representation of what so many people have invested into me, and I'm just so thankful to be out here."

Kim will sleep on the solo lead after making three birdies in a row on his second nine to charge up the leaderboard and put himself in the driver's seat as he seeks his fifth career win on the PGA Tour.

"I putted great the last two days, so that helps me. It was a little windy still, but it wasn't like last week [in Hawaii], so that helps me," Kim said. "Just not thinking about trying to win or trying to finish, just enjoy the round [on Sunday]. That's my goal."

Scheffler made an impressive par save on the 18th of the Stadium Course to card a 4-under 68 which included six birdies and his first two bogeys of the 2026 season.

"A bit of a slow start, but I made a nice birdie there on 7. I hit two really good shots into 8. I struck the ball pretty nicely for the rest of the round, so I was pretty pleased with how I was playing outside of a couple bogeys," Scheffler said. "Clean that up heading into tomorrow."

In a bid for his 20th PGA Tour win, Scheffler looks to chase down Kim while trying to stave off Brown as well as Wyndham Clark and Eric Cole, who both shot rounds of 6-under 66 at La Quinta Country Club on Saturday and sit in a tie for fourth at 20 under. Clark caught fire down the stretch, making birdie on five of his last six holes in the third round.

"It wasn't the greatest start. It could have been decent on the front, I just left a lot of putts short," Clark said. "The greens were a lot slower [at La Quinta Country Club] than the previous two courses we played, so I didn't quite adjust. As the round went on I adjusted and hit some good shots and had a great back nine."

After going winless last season, Clark, the 2023 U.S. Open champion, is seeking his first win since the 2024 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

"It's lame, but I'm not really going to change much," Clark said of his game plan for Sunday's final round in Palm Springs. "I'm just going to go out and keep doing what I'm doing. I'm rolling the rock really nicely, I've been hitting it good all week, so hopefully it's my day tomorrow."

The American Express is unique in that there's a 54-hole cut, as opposed to the typical 36-hole cut, meaning more than half the field was sent packing after Saturday's third round. Justin Rose, Akshay Bhatia, Tony Finau and defending champion Sepp Straka were among those who missed the cut, which came in at 11 under.

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Blades Brown's strong finish puts him in contention at American Express