Nashville teen Blades Brown 1 shot off American Express lead - ESPN

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.

Scheffler caught the worst of the wind and had two bogeys. He was on the verge of ending with another until holing a 25-foot par putt that swirled in on the last turn.

Kim was at 22-under 194, with Scheffler and Brown right behind. They will be part of the final group Sunday on the Stadium Course.

The teen is the most compelling. Brown could become the youngest winner in nearly a century, probably longer.

Charles Kocsis won the Michigan Open in 1931 at 18 years, 6 months — a couple of months younger than Brown — but that tournament was regarded as a regional event. Young Tom Morris won his first British Open in 1868 at age 17.

Brown tied for 17th in the Bahamas in a Korn Ferry Tour event that ended Wednesday, got on a private jet to reach California and reached his hotel about 14 hours before his tee time.

Tired? Not at his age, and not with this opportunity in front of him.

«I feel