Miles Russell of Jacksonville Beach, Florida, became the ninth-youngest player to tee it up in a PGA Tour event on Thursday when he shot 2-over 74 in the first round of the Rocket Mortgage Classic at the Detroit Golf Club.
If he had anxiety it didn’t show much when he got his 5-7, 120-pound frame into a 305-yard drive down the left side of the 10th fairway on his first hole.
“I was a little nervous,” Russell said during his post-round news conference, assigning his stress level to about a 7 on a scale of 10. “That [was] probably my best drive of the day.”
Russell, who is 15 years, 7 months and 27 days old, missed the green with his second shot from 119 yards out, into the left bunker. His sand shot went 18 feet past the hole and he missed the par attempt, tapping in for a bogey-5.
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He had an up-and-down round through the narrow, winding holes of the Donald Ross-designed course. Russell followed his opening bogey with 10 pars in a row, made his first career PGA Tour birdie on a putt of 1 feet, 8 inches at the par-4 third hole, then rebounded from a double-bogey 6 at the par-4 sixth hole to birdie the par-5 seventh on a putt of nearly 4 feet.
Russell missed a birdie attempt of 10 feet at No. 8 and finished with a bogey, three-putting the par-3 ninth from 31 feet, 7 inches. He missed a par attempt of 3 feet, 3 inches.
Russell praised his playing partners
However, Russell said the score didn’t reflect how overjoyed he was about playing in his first PGA Tour event.
“Today was a great day,” he said. “For it to be the first [Tour round] … definitely wasn’t quite what I was hoping for, but we live, we learn, we move on. So looking forward to tomorrow and hopefully tomorrow’s going to be better.”
Russell started his second round on Friday at 8:57 a.m., starting at the first tee. He was 3 under through his front nine and near the projected cutline. He added a birdie on No. 11 that moved him to 2 under for the tournament, exactly at the projected cutline as of 11:30 a.m. A bogey on the next hole put him back to 1 under. A second bogey on the 16th hole sealed his fate, dropping him to even par for the week. He would par the last two holes for a 70 but he walked off the course tied for 104th as the cutline moved to 3 under.
Still, it was an impressive two-day total of 74-70–144 for the teenager.
Russell said playing partners Pierceson Coody and Rico Hoey, both in their first PGA Tour season, were more than helpful.
“They were great,” Russell said Thursday. “Walking off the first tee, they helped keep me loose and I think it was a cool experience for kind of all of us, but really cool one for me. I don’t know if I could ask for a better grouping.”
According to the PGA Tour research, the youngest player in a Tour event is Michelle Wie West in the 2004 Sony Open, at the age of 14 years, 3 months and 4 days.
Guan Tianling of China played in the 2013 Masters at 14 years, 5 months and 17 days. He also is the youngest player to make the cut in a major or a PGA Tour-sanctioned event.
Russell became the youngest player to make the cut in a Korn Ferry Tour event in April at the Lecom Suncoast Classic in Lakewood Ranch, Florida. He tied for 20th and qualified for the next event at the Veritex Bank Championship near Dallas, where he missed the cut.
Russell has acquitted himself well in three attempts at professional golf prior to this week. He shot 67 in a Monday qualifier in March for the Puerto Rico Open, and lost in a playoff for the fourth and final spot. His scoring average in seven rounds in pro events is 68.14 and he’s yet to shoot a round over par.
He will have at least one other pro start this season, at the PGA Tour’s Butterfield Bermuda Championship in November.
Who are the youngest players to compete on the PGA Tour?
Here are the players 15 years or younger to have played in a PGA Tour event, according to the PGA Tour and the four major championships:
- Michelle Wie West: 2004 Sony Open, 14 years, three months, four days.
- Guan Tianling: 2013 Masters, 14 years, five months, 18 days.
- Andy Zhang: 2012 U.S. Open, 14 years, six months.
- Lorens Chan: 2009 Sony Open, 14 years, seven months, 24 days.
- Oliver Betschart: 2023 Butterfield Bermuda Championship, 15 years, three months, eight days.
- Evan Pena: 2024 Puerto Rico Open, 15 years, three months, 28 days.
- Tadd Fujikawa: 2006 U.S. Open, 15 years, five months, seven days.
- John Oda: 2012 Sony Open, 15 years, seventh months, 22 days.
- Miles Russell: 2024 Rocket Mortgage Classic, 15 years, seven months, 26 days.
- Bob Panasik: 1957 Canadian Open, 15 years, eight months, 20 days.
- Cole Hammer: 2015 U.S. Open, 15 years nine months, 21 days.
- Kenny Leseur: 2019 Butterfield Bermuda Championship, 15 years, nine months, 22 days.