Miles Russell has won plenty of attention for his feats on the junior scene, with a string of impressive victories. His young career reached even greater heights in 2024 with a remarkable Korn Ferry Tour performance followed by his maiden PGA Tour appearance.
The American appears to have a very bright future in the game indeed. Here are 20 facts you may not be aware of about the teenager.
1. Miles Russell was born 1 November 2009 and resides in Jacksonville Beach, Florida.
2. He was introduced to the game at the age of two by his dad and grandfather. According to Russell, his family “took me out to the course and I went through a bucket of balls in three minutes. It was just fun.”
3. At the age of six, he broke par for the first time.
4. That was also the age he attended a tournament for the first time, The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass, and he has been along to every edition since.
5. Growing up, the American played baseball and football, but his main passion is golf. Nowadays, he also plays pickleball and tennis.
6. Russell plays out of Atlantic Beach Country Club.
7. A high-school freshman, Russell began online schooling in eighth grade.
8. He is coached by Ramon Bescansa, a Korn Ferry Tour player who also caddied for Russell at his Korn Ferry Tour debut in 2024.
9. In 2018, at the age of nine, he made a hole-in-one. In that year, Russell also participated in Augusta National's Drive, Chip & Putt event.
10. He has won a number of junior titles, including the 2018 Junior Honda Classic and the 2020 & 2021 US Kids World Championship. However, the win that really vaulted Russell into the spotlight came at the 2023 Junior Players Championship, where he carded rounds of 70-66-71 to become the youngest champion in the tournament's history.
11. After that victory at TPC Sawgrass, Russell received a congratulatory video from two-time Major winner and World No.1 Scottie Scheffler.
12. Russell represented the USA at the Junior Ryder Cup in 2023, although Team Europe claimed the spoils with a 20.5-9.5 victory.
13. In 2023, Russell surpassed Tiger Woods' record as the youngest winner of the AJGA Boys Junior Player of the Year. The victory came just a day after his 15th birthday.
14. Russell almost Monday qualified for the 2024 Puerto Rico Open on the PGA Tour in March, but just missed out after losing in a playoff.
15. He has Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) deals with TaylorMade and Nike.
16. In April 2024, Russell competed in the LECOM Suncoast Classic, a Korn Ferry Tour event, where he fired a first round of 68.
17. The next day, he became the youngest player to make the cut at a Korn Ferry Tour event with a five-under second round of 66, an achievement that he declared left him "speechless."
18. It got even better for Russell two days after that, when further rounds of 70 and 66 left him at 14-under for the tournament and in a tie for 20th, making him the youngest player since records began in 1983 to claim a top-25 finish on either the PGA or Korn Ferry Tour.
19. That proved the catalyst for a sponsor's exemption to the PGA Tour's Butterfield Bermuda Championship at Port Royal Golf Course in November.
20. While that appeared to be the tournament at which he would make his PGA Tour debut, it was bumped into second by the announcement in June 2024 that Russell would also play in the Rocket Mortgage Classic later in the month, also on a sponsor's exemption.
