Blades Brown, 19, wins World Wide Technology Championship in a play-off
Blades Brown won the World Wide Technology Championship in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, beating Ben James on the second hole of a play-off. He is 19 years and 171 days old, and according to BBC Sport he is the youngest winner on the PGA Tour in 95 years.
Brown did not start the final round in contention. He began Sunday seven shots behind the leader, Ben James. Then he shot a nine-under-par 63, the kind of round that sends a player up the leaderboard in a hurry. Under par means the number of strokes below the course's set total, so nine under means nine fewer than par for the 18 holes. He finished with a birdie, one shot under par, on the 18th.
That birdie put him level with James on 23 under par, and the two went back to the course to decide it. A play-off is a sudden-death contest between the players tied at the top after 72 holes. The first hole produced no winner. On the second, Brown holed a birdie to win the title. The play-off was played at El Cardonal at Diamante, one of the courses used for the event.
Michael Kim finished third on 22 under. Kensei Hirata was one shot further back on 21 under.
The record books have plenty of room for a teenager's name. Brown is the youngest PGA Tour winner since 18-year-old Charles Kocsis won the 1931 Michigan Open. He is also the first teenage PGA Tour winner since Jordan Spieth won the John Deere Classic in 2013, when Spieth was 19 years and 352 days old.
The route to the PGA Tour was not a straight one. Brown turned professional at 17. He then played on the Korn Ferry Tour, the circuit one step below the PGA Tour, where players earn their place on the main tour through points. Reuters reported in October that he finished ninth on that points list, making him the youngest player in history to earn a PGA Tour card that way. His finish in the top 20 on the list secured the card.
For a player that young, the hardest part of the week was probably the wait. Coming from seven behind on the final day means a lot of chasing, and then a lot of waiting. Every shot on the back nine carries the question of whether the leaders will fold. Brown's answer was a 63 and then a birdie at the end of regulation, and then one more birdie to finish it.
For fans, the result is a reminder that a leaderboard is never settled until the last putt drops. Ben James had led going into Sunday and still ended up in a play-off. Brown had been seven shots off the lead and finished the tournament as its champion.
