Miles ahead of the game
15-year-old Russell seeks 'fun' in PGA Tour debut; Women's Olympics field set; 'Stupid' Dutch painfully withdraw 3 qualified Olympians
Mile Russell, 15, will tee it up at Detroit Golf Club this week (Raj Mehta/Getty Images)
Miles Russell appears to be a grounded kid who is trying his best to keep things in perspective as he gets an opportunity this week to play in a PGA Tour event — at age 15.
The No. 1 boys player in the American Junior Golf Association, Russell got a sponsor’s invitation into a Korn Ferry Tour event in April in Bradenton, Fla., and made the most of it.
He became the youngest player to make a cut in a Korn Ferry Tour event, shooting a final-round 66 at the LECOM Suncoast Classic to tie for 20th. A top-25 finisher in a Korn Ferry event is eligible to play the following week. Russell did that, missing the cut in Arlington, Texas, after rounds of 68-70.
His performance and attention, however, garnered sponsor’s invites to this week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic at Detroit Golf Club and this fall’s Bermuda Championship.
Russell handled himself like a champ in the pre-tournament news conference on Wednesday, saying the last few months have been “just a complete blast.”
“I don’t know how to describe it other than just kind of a rollercoaster and it’s just been a rollercoaster of just fun,” he said.
The rising high school sophomore from Jacksonville Beach, Fla., originally planned to be playing in the North & South Amateur this week at Pinehurst Resort. The PGA Tour opportunity changed those plans.
“This has always been the goal, to play at the highest level,” Russell said. “Just kind of happened a little faster than I was thinking it might, but it’s just what happens when you have some good play.”
Russell hasn’t won an AJGA event this year — he won twice last year — but the 5-foot-7, 135-pound left-hander clearly has some game.
He’s got the golfer speak down, too: “I’ve got a good team around me.”
And that’s where you pause and say … what?!