Charley Hoffman won The American Express golf tournament, then the Bob Hope Classic, in January of 2007. That was four months before Blades Brown was born.
On Friday, with the 17-year-old Brown playing his second round as a pro, Hoffman found himself outplaying the youngster, though just barely, to take the lead in the desert’s PGA Tour event.
With 10 birdies and one bogey on the Nicklaus Tournament Course at PGA West, Hoffman fired a 9-under 63 to reach 16-under 128 for two rounds. That’s tied for the lead with Rico Hoey, who shot his own 63 on the Nicklaus Course.
Playing six groups behind Hoffman, Brown was having a breakout round of his own. One-over through two holes, Brown caught fire with six consecutive birdies, then added three more birdies for his 64 on the day.
Brown is now 8 under for 36 holes in his first tour start as a professional, inside the cut line and impressing players like Hoffman.
More: Veteran Jason Day riding hot wedge into contention at American Express
“He puts the work in, he’s a solid golfer, and obviously the future’s very bright for him,” said Hoffman, 48 and the captain of the U.S. Junior Presidents Cup team in 2024 when Brown was a player on that team. “It’s not easy out here though and hopefully he has a lot of success, but it’s a tough training ground out here on the PGA Tour, and hopefully he gets some success early on.”
Brown enjoyed plenty of success Friday, vaulting from an even-par opening round on Thursday at La Quinta Country Club into a tie for 40th after 36 holes. That’s still eight shots out of the lead, but the round showed Brown has become comfortable with his PGA Tour surroundings quickly.
“I will say I did feel a lot more comfortable today than I did yesterday,” said Brown, who shot 72 in his debut round. “Yesterday, my adrenaline was up a lot, and today I started to kind of get into my zone and was able to hit the shots that I wanted to.”
Those shots included two bogeys, on his second hole at the par-5 11th, and his closing hole at the par-4 ninth. The rest of the round included the early run of birdies followed by four birdies in his final nine holes.
“When I got three in a row, I was like, ‘okay, we got to get the putter in my hand.’ I love to putt, putting is my favorite aspect of golf,” Brown said. “Yesterday I was having a difficult time getting the putter in my hand. Luckily, I was able to get the putter in my hand a lot today, so it was a lot of fun.”
Hoey, who grew up 80 miles away in Rancho Cucamonga and starred at the USC, was another player torching the Nicklaus Course with a round of 10 birdies and one bogey to match Hoffman’s two rounds of 65-63 and share the lead. Hoey is seeking his first victory in his second full year on the PGA Tour.
“You can never predict how you’re going to play,” Hoey said. “Tomorrow, I’m just going to do what I can, warm up, and just hit the best shot that I can possibly do. Tomorrow, I’m just going to let it flow and let it happen.”
Behind Hoffman and Hoey, the tournament leaderboard was suddenly filled with star power after two rounds. One shot out of the lead are a trio of players in Justin Lower (66 at Nicklaus Tournament), Mark Hubbard (64 on the Pete Dye Stadium Course) and Sepp Straka (64 on the Stadium Course).
“Overall, (the Stadium Course) is a little bit more penal than Nicklaus and definitely more than La Quinta,” Hubbard said. “La Quinta is the narrowest, but if you drive it decent at all you’re going to have a ton of looks.
“I think it’s just most penal and then, yeah, having the greens be firmer because they’re new, and also they just haven’t quite settled yet,” he said. “That’s pretty common, there’s lots of funny breaks. I don’t think I had a putt outside of four feet that I didn’t feel like was some sort of double breaker, and that’s probably what I did the best today was just trusting my first read and trusting what I saw.”
Jason Day, a major champion and 13-time tour winner, stood at 14 under following a 66 on the Nicklaus Tournament. Day is tied with J.J. Spaun, who also shot 66 on Nicklaus.
Among those at 13 under are Justin Thomas, Nick Taylor and Rickie Fowler. Thomas shot 64 on the Nicklaus Course while Fowler fired a bogey-free 62 on the same course. Taylor fired a 66 at La Quinta Country Club.
Patrick Cantlay is one shot back at 12 under after a 64 on Nicklaus with Doug Ghim (64 on Nicklaus) and Will Zalatoris (66 on Nicklaus).
Meanwhile, first-round leader J.T. Poston dropped down the leaderboard into a tie for 58th place with a 4-over 76 on the Stadium Course.
Among the top 13, only Hubbard, Straka and Taylor have played a round on the Stadium Course during the first two days. The rest of the field will play the Stadium Course on Saturday, a course that is playing about four shots tougher than the Nicklaus or La Quinta Country Club.
Hoffman isn’t surprised by the play of Brown, remembering Brown’s work ethic at the Junior Presidents Cup.
“He’s very polished,” Hoffman said. “Let’s put it this way, surprisingly, this is what stuck out with me. I got up before the team, before the team played at, we’ll say 5 in the morning, I would go and work out because I had to get some work because I’m still playing, and he was in the gym working out. I don’t know if I had that work ethic at 17. I promise you I didn’t.”
As for his own round, Hoffman said he didn’t make any unexpected putts but was able to hit wedges into greens enough to give himself plenty of birdie chances.
“It’s one of those golf courses (where) if you keep the ball in front of you, you can attack some of those pins,” Hoffman said. “If you don’t, you’re not able to. I was able to make a few putts, hit some wedges close and it all added up to a 63.”
Hoffman added that he feels relaxed in the desert in the tournament’s pro-am format of two pros and two amateurs in each foursome.
“Somewhere inside me, I embrace the pro-am aspect, I embrace playing with amateurs, I embrace getting to know these guys and hanging out with them, having them root for me while we’re playing,” Hoffman said. “I embrace that. Sometimes it’s hard for other people, but I really do enjoy playing with amateurs, getting to know them, trying to help them play a better round of golf than I do.”
Like Hoffman, Brown said he knows Saturday’s round on the Stadium Course will be a challenge with firm greens and penalizing lakes and bunkers.
“We’ve got easy is La Quinta, which even par at the easiest course, probably isn’t the best thing,” Blade said. “And then played really well today on Nicklaus, and then hardest course tomorrow. I’m really looking forward to get after it. I’m going to go execute the shots I know I can, and we’re going to see where that leads to.”
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Charley Hoffman eyes second American Express title while teen Blades Brown steals the show
