It’s going to be a Thursday to remember for Frankie Capan III.
The 24-year-old shot 13-under 58 during the first round of the Korn Ferry Tour’s Veritex Bank Championship at Texas Rangers Golf Club in Arlington, Texas. The round included seven straight birdies on the back nine, a 29 on both sides and taking down World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler’s course record, which he set May 3, 2020.
His round started with a par before four consecutive birdies on Nos. 2-5. He added an eagle at the par-5 ninth to turn in 6-under 29.
On the back nine, the circles added up.
One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven in a row before he finally made par at the par-4 17th. On the closing par-5 18th, his tee shot ended up in the fairway bunker, and he was unable to card another birdie for a 57.
With a pair of top-10 finishes coming into the Veritex Bank Championship, Capan was finding his rhythm. Hard to imagine he pictured a start like he put together Thursday.
Miles Russell is still an amateur golfer and intends to remain so for the foreseeable future.
Miles Russell is still an amateur golfer and intends to remain so for the foreseeable future.
Russell, the 15-year-old Jacksonville Beach native who became the youngest player in history to finish among the top 20 in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event last week at the Korn Ferry Tour’s LECOM Suncoast Open, said he will keep to his junior and amateur schedule this summer, which will be capped by defending his title in the Junior Players Championship on Labor Day weekend at the Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass.
“That’s the plan,” he said Wednesday during a teleconference from the Veritex Bank Championship near Dallas, a tournament he’s playing thanks to his tie for 20th last week at Lakewood National. The Korn Ferry Tour gives players who finish among the top 25 a spot in the next event on the schedule. “I’m planning to play to play the rest of the summer like I planned to … a couple of junior, a couple of am events, see how it goes.”
Regardless of how Russell plays this week or any additional pro events, Russell said he’s not entertaining any thoughts of turning pro. His schedule includes events such as the Junior Players, U.S. Amateur, U.S. Junior, the Western Amateur, the North and South Amateur and a U.S. Open sectional qualifier, among other junior or amateur tournaments.
“It’s going to be a busy summer,” he said.
Russell also has a fall date on the PGA Tour: the Butterfield Bermuda Championship Nov. 14-17. Russell received an invitation to the FedEx Cup Fall tournament that will be reserved for the American Junior Golf Association Player of the Year.
Miles Russell’s ‘wild ride’
Russell will tee off at 3:43 p.m. on Thursday off No. 1 at the Texas Rangers Golf Club in Arlington, Texas, and at 10:08 a.m. on Friday from the 10th tee. His playing partners are Callum McNeill of Scotland (30 years old) and David Bradshaw (40).
Russell termed his last week “a wild ride,” and it’s no wonder. He first became the youngest player to ever make the cut on the Korn Ferry Tour (and the third-youngest to make a cut in a PGA Tour-sanctioned tournament), then had weekend rounds of 70-66 to climb 28 spots on the leaderboard.
Russell said he’s taking great satisfaction from earning his way into the Veritex Championship after playing in the LECOM Open on a sponsor invitation.
“Earning something feels better than getting an exemption,” he said. “You know what you practiced for and what you live for and that’s what you did.”
He admitted that Sunday and Monday were exhausting days. Once he and his family knew he would finish among the top 25 while driving back to Jacksonville Beach, there were travel arrangements to be made and a new set of golf clothes to pack.
“All the emotion and excitement and adrenaline, that travel from Sunday night to Monday until I got here … it was a long, long day.”
Miles Russell hits from the 12th tee during the second round of the LECOM Suncoast Classic at Lakewood National Golf Club Commander on April 19, 2024 in Lakewood Ranch, Florida. (Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images)
Russell said his goals this week are the same
Russell said he likes the course and said the goal this week would be the same as last week.
“Just try to put … two good rounds together and see where that puts us compared to the cut,” he said. “If we make the cut, just try to have two more good rounds and see where that puts us.”
He said he’s been surprised by the attention for his play at Lakewood National, which comes on the heels of a string of junior golf accomplishments, such as winning the Junior Players, the Junior PGA and being named the AJGA Player of the Year, along with making the Junior Ryder Cup team and the first USGA Junior National team.
“If I had my choice I would not have any of it [the attention],” he said. “But it’s kind of what happens when you play well so you kind of got to get used to it every once in a while. Everybody’s been nice and easy to work with and hopefully it stays that way.”
Russell said being humble is in his nature.
“I think that’s kind of my personality,” he said. “I don’t like being showy with things, kind of like walking around a certain way. I like to just kind of go about my business and do my thing.”
He said he was surprised when there were autograph seekers following his final round on Sunday — admitting he needs to improve his handwriting — and said it was “really cool,” to get a shoutout on X from World Golf Hall of Fame member and fellow left-handed golfer Phil Mickelson.
“I’ve looked up to him,” he said. “Going to The Players, I always watched him.”
Russell praises caddie/teacher’s influence
Russell said his support team of parents Joe and Kelli and caddie Ramon Bescansa have helped him concentrate on golf as best he can, given sudden media requests and fan attention.
He said Bescansa, his swing instructor since he was 7 years old, is a calming influence as a caddie.
“He’s the nicest, most positive guy you’ll ever meet,” he said. “The vibes he puts off … when you’re on the golf course that’s all you need. He can flip the mood and get you going [and] his knowledge of golf is on a different level.”
Russell also predicted he won’t be the last 15-year-old to make such a splash.
“Everybody has access to a ton of stuff … launch monitors, some of the best coaches … the equipment companies are starting to help younger kids out with gloves, balls … all the stuff … having the right clubs to fit into,” he said. “Everybody’s just so talented. There’s so many ways to be good and everybody’s finding every little detail to be good at it, or try to be the best.”
Miles Russell, 15, is already a decorated amateur golfer. But after two rounds of the Korn Ferry Tour’s Lecom Suncoast Classic at Lakewood National Golf Club in Lakewood Ranch, Florida, he’s made history.
After rounds of 68-66, Russell is now the youngest player ever to make a cut on the Korn Ferry Tour.
On Friday, Russell made two eagles on his front nine, one at the par-4 fourth and another at the par-5 ninth. Once he made the turn, he birdied Nos. 10 and 11 before a bogey at 13.
His second-round 5-under 66 has him tied for 26th after 36 holes and six shots back of the lead held by Brandon Crirk at 14 under.
History has been made in Lakewood Ranch. ⁰⁰Miles Russell is the youngest player to make the cut on the Korn Ferry Tour at 15 years, 5 months old. pic.twitter.com/aV0Spe3EFp
Morgan Hoffmann’s journey is an incredible story. He can perhaps add yet another chapter to it this week.
Hoffmann, who was diagnosed with facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy in 2017, has slowly but surely started playing golf again in an effort to return to the PGA Tour. The 34-year-old has played in 167 Tour events in his career and earned a little more than $6 million. Doctors told him he didn’t have much of a chance to live.
Now, he’s in contention on the Korn Ferry Tour heading to the weekend in his first full season back.
Hoffmann had nine birdies in a 7-under 64 on Friday at the Lecom Suncoast Classic at Lakewood National Golf Club in Lakewood Ranch, Florida. He sits at 13 under for the tournament, trailing only Brandon Crick by a shot going to Saturday.
“I’ve been knocking rust off since the beginning of the season,” Hoffmann said. “It feels really good to be back out here competing again. I’m very grateful to be here.”
Hoffmann has finished T-59 and T-52 in his two made cuts in five starts this season on the Korn Ferry Tour, but one weekend is enough to vault someone up the standings and into a position for a PGA Tour card.
His search for alternative treatments for his incurable disease took him around the world, eventually settling in Costa Rica. In 2017, Hoffmann and his wife, Chelsea, established the Morgan Hoffmann Foundation to help the fight against muscular dystrophy.
“The last two years have been a lot of ups and downs and working on health still,” Hoffmann said. “My goal is to get back on the PGA Tour. Let’s have a win, or start there. That’s a good goal.”
Next stop for Miles Russell, now 15, is the Korn Ferry Tour.
At 6:07 a.m. ET on Thursday morning, Russell was on the 10th tee alongside Kamaiu Johnson and Daniel Wetterich in the Lecom Suncoast Classic in Lakewood Ranch, Florida. He was 4 under through his first five holes.
He’s going to get out of school work for two days this week in his hometown of Jacksonville Beach, Florida, to play in his first PGA Tour-sanctioned event. The freshman, who’s been home-schooled for three years now, is in the field on a sponsor exemption.
He was oh-so-close to earning his way into a PGA Tour event, falling in a playoff for the Puerto Rico Classic.
Miles Russell takes a picture at the 2023 Junior Players Championship with Akshay Bhatia and fellow junior golfer Nancy Cox.
“I don’t know what to expect, but I’d love to make the cut and who knows, maybe have a good weekend and see where it puts me,” Russell said Tuesday when he played a practice round with Roberto Diaz, Sam Saunders and Rob Oppenheim.
Russell is the third-youngest golfer to play a Korn Ferry Tour event. He’s the fifth under the age of 16 to compete there, joining Michelle Wie West, Esteban Jaramillo, Greg Lavoie and Carter Jenkins, who is now a current Korn Ferry Tour member.
Jake Knapp got off to a record start Saturday in Mexico.
Knapp started the day tied for the lead then went out in 7-under 28, a course record at Vidanta Vallarta, host of the 2024 Mexico Open at Vidanta. His quick start is just the latest in what is becoming one of the best stories this season on the PGA Tour.
Knapp, 29, went to college at UCLA and finished T-3 last month at the Farmers Insurance Open, his best finish on Tour. Now in Mexico, he has a chance to better that.
Here are five things to know about Knapp as he seeks his first PGA Tour title.
Adrich Potgieter, who won the Korn Ferry Tour’s Bahamas Great Abaco Classic two weeks ago, has now shot the 10th sub-60 round in Korn Ferry Tour history with his 11-under 59 during the second round of the Astara Golf Championship at the Pacos Course at Country Club de Bogata in Colombia.
Potgieter is the youngest player to shoot 59 in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event.
“I had to play well, I knew I had to play well to be able to shoot this low,” Potgieter said. “It was just kind of the confidence to hit the ball, get it close, make putts. Not many mistakes, I think that was a big thing, trying to eliminate the mistakes and just try to keep the ball in play. There’s not much danger on the short course, so just try to shoot under the 60s, try to get as low as I can, but definitely looking at that.”
The Pacos Course is the shortest on the Korn Ferry Tour, playing at 6,254 yards, as well as being nearly 9,000 feet above sea level. However, narrow fairways and tricky greens always create challenges for players, and there had never been a sub-60 score until Thursday.
And now, for the second straight day, a player has recorded a sub-60 round.
Potgieter went out in 7-under 28, playing the back nine at the Pacos Course. Then on the front, he added five more birdies, including three in a row on his final three holes, to shoot 59.
Ten birdies, one eagle and even a bogey, but it was enough to record the 12th sub-60 score in Korn Ferry Tour history. It’s also the first time there has been two sub-60 scores at one PGA Tour-sanctioned event.
Potgieter sits at 16-under 125 after two rounds in Colombia, one shot in front of Del Solar, who followed up his record-setting performance with a 2-under 69 on the Lagos Course.
“I was kind of trying to get to that 57, so I was trying to push myself, but then kind of realized that we’re still in a golf tournament, we’re not playing a fun round out here,” Potgieter said, “so I was kind of trying to concentrate when I made those last three birdies, which helped a lot.”
This weekend, play shifts to the Lagos Course for both rounds, a par-71 layout that measures 7,237 yards.
His cousin was the first Chilean to win on the LPGA and he almost considered a tennis career.
No matter the tour, sub-60 rounds are usually few and far between in professional golf. Last week Joaquin Niemann fired a 59 at LIV Golf Mayakoba. A day later Wyndham Clark shot a 60 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Cristobal Del Solar made history Thursday in Bogota, Colombia.
Cristobal Del Solar made history Thursday in Bogota, Colombia.
The 30-year-old, who went to college at Florida State, shot 13-under 57 during the opening round of the Astara Golf Championship on the Korn Ferry Tour at the Pacos Course at Country Club de Bogata. It’s the first time in the history of professional golf that someone has shot 57 on a par-70 layout, and it’s the ninth sub-60 round on the Korn Ferry Tour.
The score is the lowest ever in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event.
“Incredible, man,” Del Solar said. “Honestly, I was just playing. I didn’t even know what I was at. Actually, I asked my caddie on the 18th after hitting my 18th tee shot, we were just walking and I told him, I was like, hey, am I going to break 60, because I’ve never broken 60 before. He was like, you’re going to break a little bit more than 60. Yeah, I mean, I played really good golf. I drove the ball well, chipped it well, putted well. Yeah, I mean, I’m happy. It was a great round.”
Del Solar tied history with an 8-under 27 on the front nine, the lowest nine-hole score in Korn Ferry Tour history. He had six birdies and an eagle on the 330-yard par-4 ninth.
On the back nine, the Chilean added another eagle at the par-5 12th to move to 11 under after 12 holes. Birdies on Nos. 14 and 15 moved him to 13 under thru 15. Pars on the last three holes saw him sign for his record-setting 57.
Cristobal Del Solar of Chile holds his official scorecard which features his score 57 during the first round of the Astara Golf Championship presented by Mastercard at Country Club de Bogota on February 08, 2024 in Bogota, Colombia. (Photo by Hector Vivas/Getty Images)
The Pacos course is the shortest on the Korn Ferry Tour, playing at 6,254 yards, as well as being nearly 9,000 feet above sea level. However, narrow fairways and tricky greens always create challenges for players, and there had never been a sub-60 score until Thursday.
“It had to be a specific type of course to kind of do this stuff,” Del Solar said. “Obviously if it’s difficult, the score’s going to be higher. I haven’t even broken 60 practicing on my home course, and my home course is pretty difficult. I’m excited. I mean, maybe if I play from the women’s tee I’ll break 60 someday there. But I’m just happy, it was a great round.”
Del Solar has played three events on the Korn Ferry Tour this year. His lowest round before the 57 on Thursday was a 67.
Last week, Joaquin Niemann shot 11-under 59 in the opening round of LIV Golf Mayakoba en route to his victory. Last year, Bryson DeChambeau shot 58 at LIV Golf Greenbrier. The only 58 in PGA Tour history was Jim Furyk at the Travelers Championship in 2016.
Salinda started the final round tied for the lead.
Isaiah Salinda entered the final round of the Korn Ferry Tour’s Panama Championship tied for the lead at 7 under with Wil Bateman.
By Sunday afternoon, Salinda was hoisting the trophy after winning by a staggering eight shots. It’s the largest margin of victory on the circuit in seven years.
Salinda bogeyed the third hole but then birdied Nos. 4, 6 and 11 before an eagle on 12. He then punctuated his win with a birdie on the closing hole to get to 12 under and post a 65 to seal first professional victory.
