Miles Russell, 15 years old, is finishing his first year of high school this spring.
Russell earned his second start on the Korn Ferry Tour on Sunday, following a remarkable weekend at Lakewood National Golf Club.
Russell finished the LECOM Suncoast Classic with a 5-under 66 on Sunday, including seven birdies in a 10-hole run. This moved him to 14-under for the week and a T20 finish at the event, making him the youngest golfer to finish in the top 25 on either the PGA Tour or the Korn Ferry Tour since records began in 1983.
“It was an excellent week. “It was a blast,” Russell told the PGA Tour. “Especially for my first one, you might get some strange looks, like, ‘Who’s the little kid on the range?'” But, you know, everyone was very friendly and helpful with everything.
“I just try to go with the flow and accept things as they come, and I’m trying to keep my calm. I was able to make some good shots at the correct times.”
Russell, the reigning American Junior Golf Association Player of the Year, played this week on a sponsor’s exemption. Last year, he won the Junior PGA Championship by seven strokes and made history as the youngest individual to win the Junior Players Championship. Tiger Woods is the only other male player to have won the AJGA Player of the Year title at the age of 15.
Russell shot a 66 on Friday, becoming the youngest golfer to ever make the cut at 15 years, 5 months, and 17 days old. Gipper Finau, the younger brother of PGA Tour golfer Tony Finau, held the previous Korn Ferry Tour record at 16 years old. Guan Tianlang of China reached the Masters cut in 2013 at the age of 14. That remains the record for a PGA Tour tournament.
“When I play well, I think I can compete with some of the better pros, but this week I played well and I think it kind of showed it a little bit,” Russell said in an interview. “But good play is always good, and definitely confidence-boosting to finish where we’re going to finish today.”
Russell is still participating as an amateur, and his finish on Sunday will not gain him any money or Korn Ferry Tour points, but it will qualify him for next week’s Veritex Bank Championship in Texas. He isn’t old enough to join the Korn Ferry Tour full-time yet, but he may continue to earn entries week after week — everyone who finishes in the top-25 is immediately entered into the next week’s event.
On Sunday afternoon, Tim Widing defeated Steven Fisk and Patrick Cover in a playoff to win the LECOM Suncoast Classic. The foursome finished the week at 20-under, six shots better than Russell.
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