Teenage golf prodigy Blades Brown, the top-ranked golfer in the Class of 2026, is turning pro.

The 17-year-old high school junior announced via Instagram on Tuesday that he won’t play college golf and will instead make his PGA Tour debut at The American Express at La Quinta, California in January.

“I am ready to begin the next chapter of my golf career and will be competing as a professional in 2025,” said Brown.

“This is not a decision that I take lightly, and I have spent the past months weighing all possible options before deciding on what I know is best for me.

“While I am proud of the accomplishments of my amateur career, I am focused on the future and getting off to a strong start in my professional career.”

Brown has achieved no shortage of success to date in a burgeoning career which saw him break a 103-year record held by the legendary Bobby Jones by becoming the youngest medalist in US Amateur history at the age of just 16 in 2023.

Jones acomplished the feat at 18 years of age in 1920.

Brown, from Nashville, also joined Tiger Woods and Bobby Clampett last summer as the only players to win a medal in both US Amateur and US Junior competitions.

He continued: “To have your name in the same category as Tiger Woods, Bobby Jones, that’s something you work for and you practice for and that you dream of.”