LA QUINTA, Calif. — Blades Brown looked well beyond his 18 years under increasing attention Saturday. He finished with three straight birdies that left him tied with world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, both of them one shot behind Si Woo Kim going into the final round of The American Express.
Kim had a 6-under 66 and the advantage of playing La Quinta Country Club as the wind finally arrived in the Coachella Valley. Scheffler and Brown were on the Stadium Course at PGA West, the most difficult even in calm conditions. Each shot a 68.
Brown, from Nashville, Tennessee, was playing his seventh consecutive round after arriving from a Korn Ferry Tour event in the Bahamas. That didn’t stop him from playing “rock, paper, scissors” with a young fan and then holing a 25-foot birdie putt on the par-3 17th. He followed with a 45-foot birdie on the 18th…