Fifteen-year-old Miles Russell made a hard push up the leaderboard at the Korn Ferry Tour’s LECOM Suncoast Classic, rising to as high as tied for third place.
Russell shot a final-round 66 and was 14-under-par for the week at the event at Lakewood National in Lakewood Ranch, Fla. After a bogey on 18 he was tied for 15th as he walked off the course.
Russell, who is 15 years, five months and 19 days old, became the youngest player to make the cut in a Korn Ferry Tour event after shooting first- and second-round scores of 68 and 66, including a front-nine 31 on Thursday.
The left-handed Russell followed that up with a 70 on Saturday, well within his stated goal of a top 25 in his first professional start (he’s playing on a sponsor exemption). He did far better than that, grabbing an early birdie on the par-4 4th, then going birdie-birdie-bogey-birdie-birdie-par-birdie-birdie over the next eight holes. That’s 6 birdies, one par and one bogey against two par 3s, three par 4s and three par 5s.
7 birdies in the last 10 holes 😳
Miles Russell moves into T3 at the LECOM Suncoast Classic. pic.twitter.com/jlYUIuSQOn
— Korn Ferry Tour (@KornFerryTour) April 21, 2024
With a top-25 finish, Russell is automatically eligible for next week’s Veritex Bank Championship in Arlington, Texas.
Russell and Guan Tian Liang are the only players younger than 16 to make a cut in a PGA Tour or Korn Ferry Tour event. Russell drew praise from Phil Mickelson on X, the latter giving a fellow left-handed golfer praise for “playing such incredible golf.”
He broke one of Tiger Woods’ records last year, becoming the youngest player to be named the AJGA Player of the Year. Russell, who is from Jacksonville Beach, Fla., is a high school freshman who has also won the Junior PGA and Junior Players Championship events. He shot a 66 at TPC Sawgrass in the latter. Russell said that he began playing golf at age 2 and broke par by age 6.
Russell told reporters Friday that he has a sponsor exemption into the PGA Tour’s Butterfield Bermuda Championship in November. In the meantime, he expects to continue to play AJGA events as well as elite amateur tournaments.
(Photo: Douglas P. DeFelice / Getty Images)
