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Miles is in a major.
While it may have seemed inevitable, it has come sooner than anyone in First Coast history for Miles Russell, the 17-year-old prodigy and Jacksonville Beach native.
When Russell hits his first tee shot on June 18 in the first round of the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills, he will become the youngest in area history to play in one of golf's four male professional majors. He will beat by more than a year the record held by David Duval, the most prolific winner among First Coast natives with 13 PGA Tour titles, topped by the 1999 Players and the 2001 British Open.
Duval was 18 years, seven months and five days when he played in the first round of the 1990 U.S. Open on June 14 at the Medinah Golf Club near Chicago. Russell will be 17 years, seven months and 17 days old.
Two weeks ago, Sofia Rivera, a St. Augustine native, played in the U.S. Women's Open at the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif., at the age of 16 years, 11 months and 19 days.
Russell is also playing in his 13th professional tournament as an amateur. He has played in seven events on the Korn Ferry Tour events and five on the PGA Tour, making a total of four cuts. Earlier this year, he posted his best finish in one of those tournaments with a tie for 15th in the Korn Ferry Tour's Club Car Championship in Savannah, Ga.
Russell has won more than 30 junior tournaments and is the only player to have won the Junior Players and the Sage Valley Invitational twice each. He didn't put that much hardware in his trophy case without being confident but he said he's still pinching himself since he shot 71-67—138 and then birdied the second playoff hole against club pro Tyler Collet on June 8 in a U.S. Open sectional qualifier at the BallenIsles Country Club in Palm Beach Gardens to get him in the Open.
"It still hasn't hit me yet, I don't think," he said on June 12 during a video conference with Jacksonville area media. "I came close two years ago, and I was really close last year [both times at the Duke University Golf Club, three shots off the qualifying bubble in 2024 and one back in 2025], so to get finally get over that finish line is pretty cool. It's going to be special, for sure."
Watching intently during the week will be members of Russell's home course, the Atlantic Beach Country Club, where he has played and practiced since elementary school.
"We're absolutely ecstatic about this," said ABCC director of golf Rich Podwalski. "We've been waiting for this moment for Miles, his first major, and we're all excited to see him play and hopefully make the cut."
Jack Aschenbach, the director of the North Florida Junior Foundation where Russell played some of his early junior golf, called the prospect of Russell in a U.S. Open "thrilling."
"No one who has been around Miles is surprised he's playing at this level," Aschenbach said. "He's always had a mature demeanor and a confidence in his game from a young age."
Russell earned his spot in the Open at last week's qualifier, overcoming in-round adversity and working overtime to finally nail it down.
He tripled his last hole in the first round for a 71, then, after making a late surge in the second round to move into first place, Russell doubled his next-to-last hole and fell into a three-for-two playoff with Collet and Ryder Cowan.
Russell bogeyed the first playoff hole, but so did Collet, while Cowan made a par to clinch the third spot in the Open. Russell then reached the par-5 17th hole in two and two-putted for a birdie, while Collet found the water with his tee shot and never recovered.
What did Russell prove to himself in battling back from playing three holes at 6-over in a qualifier?
"That I can still qualify making triple and double and only birdieing one par-5," he joked. "Who knew? I think you just have to stay patient. Even though I made a triple, I was still okay with the way I was playing. You can make those kind of numbers and have plenty of holes to bounce back."
Russell also said the triple was a strong motivator in the second round.
"At lunch, I kept thinking about all the opportunities I had," he said. "It was probably one of the best ball-striking events I've had all year, and I shot 1-under par. [But] if I don't make triple there, maybe I don't play as aggressive in the afternoon, and maybe I go and shoot 2-under, or 1-under. It could have been the best thing that happened to me."
Russell has seized the opportunity to play in the U.S. Open. He and his team arrived at Shinnecock a week before the first round to begin playing practice rounds at the wind-swept track with meandering fairways, deep fescue rough and greens as hard to read as trigonometry. He also went back to swing coach Ramon Bescansa as his caddie, after best bud Charlie Woods carried his bag in the qualifier.
The reason was simple: Bescansa helped two-time PGA Tour winner Russell Knox to his best career performance in a major championship with a tie for 12th at Shinnecock in 2018.
Knox said Bescansa will be a steady influence on Russell during the week.
"Ramon is an outstanding human being, first and foremost, a great guy," said Knox, who caddied for Rivera, his niece, at the U.S. Women's Open. "That is a huge attribute for a caddie-player relationship. The course has changed a little bit since 2018, but the biggest benefit for Miles is that he has already spent so much time with Ramon over the years, and has such a great knowledge of golf and Miles' game. He will be a great asset for Miles."
Russell's early scouting report on the Shinnecock was that hitting fairways was paramount.
"I'm not going to play many golf courses that are harder than this," he said. "It's going to show your weaknesses and it's going to show you what you have to work on."
Those who have watched Russell aren't putting anything past his talent and mental toughness.
Podwalski loves to tell the story about how he walked past the short game area at Atlantic Beach and watched Russell chipping into the practice green ― off the coquina cart path.
"He was using old range balls and hitting open-faced wedges and hitting low, driving pitches that were two-hopping and spinning," Podwalski said. "His short game has always stood out for a kid his age. I think it can compete with anyone in the world. That, and his commitment to practice and how much he enjoys that process."
PGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour events don't offer sponsor invitations in a vacuum. If Russell had not been a world-class junior player, tournaments in Detroit, Bermuda, Kentucky, Napa Valley and Mexico wouldn't have offered him invitations, so in that sense, he earned those spots.
But he also has every right to feel more confident about playing at Shinnecock, since he earned it by posting the number he needed in 38 holes of golf in one day at BallenIsles.
Russell has earned berths in Korn Ferry Tour events by finishing among the top 20 in the tournament before, and he got into the Club Car Championship through a Monday qualifier.
"Earning your way is definitely special," Russell said. "Somebody's not just handing you something."
Podwalski said Russell should feel as if he belongs in the field as much as the top players in the world.
"Miles appreciates sponsors and their invitations when he gets them," Podwalski said. "But this has to feel more special based on the level of play he needed last week to get there and make it happen."
What will be Russell's expectations of himself this week? Obviously, making the cut and giving himself a chance to compete for low amateur.
But he also looks at the week as another step in his golf evolution.
"Have fun and learn," he said. "Go and play well. If that means you shoot a few good rounds, that's great but if you go and shoot in the 80s, it is what it is."
Knox said he thinks Russell will have the maturity to realize that no matter what happens this week, Russell will be back — at other majors, other PGA Tour events. The future is just beginning.
"I don't think playing in his first major will affect him one bit," Knox said. "His journey is just beginning, from what he wants to achieve. It's just the first step. He knows the journey will be longer and I think it that sense it will take the pressure off and the stress off. His journey will be a long one and he knows it."
Here are the career highlights in junior, amateur and professional golf for Jacksonville Beach native Miles Russell:
Garry Smits is a longtime golf reporter from the Florida Times Union in Jacksonville, part of the USA Today Network.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Teen golfer Miles Russell's U.S. Open quest has been a ride
Continue reading...
While it may have seemed inevitable, it has come sooner than anyone in First Coast history for Miles Russell, the 17-year-old prodigy and Jacksonville Beach native.
When Russell hits his first tee shot on June 18 in the first round of the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills, he will become the youngest in area history to play in one of golf's four male professional majors. He will beat by more than a year the record held by David Duval, the most prolific winner among First Coast natives with 13 PGA Tour titles, topped by the 1999 Players and the 2001 British Open.
Duval was 18 years, seven months and five days when he played in the first round of the 1990 U.S. Open on June 14 at the Medinah Golf Club near Chicago. Russell will be 17 years, seven months and 17 days old.
Two weeks ago, Sofia Rivera, a St. Augustine native, played in the U.S. Women's Open at the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif., at the age of 16 years, 11 months and 19 days.
Russell is also playing in his 13th professional tournament as an amateur. He has played in seven events on the Korn Ferry Tour events and five on the PGA Tour, making a total of four cuts. Earlier this year, he posted his best finish in one of those tournaments with a tie for 15th in the Korn Ferry Tour's Club Car Championship in Savannah, Ga.
Miles Russell came close in 2024, 2025
Russell has won more than 30 junior tournaments and is the only player to have won the Junior Players and the Sage Valley Invitational twice each. He didn't put that much hardware in his trophy case without being confident but he said he's still pinching himself since he shot 71-67—138 and then birdied the second playoff hole against club pro Tyler Collet on June 8 in a U.S. Open sectional qualifier at the BallenIsles Country Club in Palm Beach Gardens to get him in the Open.
You must be registered for see images attach
"It still hasn't hit me yet, I don't think," he said on June 12 during a video conference with Jacksonville area media. "I came close two years ago, and I was really close last year [both times at the Duke University Golf Club, three shots off the qualifying bubble in 2024 and one back in 2025], so to get finally get over that finish line is pretty cool. It's going to be special, for sure."
Watching intently during the week will be members of Russell's home course, the Atlantic Beach Country Club, where he has played and practiced since elementary school.
"We're absolutely ecstatic about this," said ABCC director of golf Rich Podwalski. "We've been waiting for this moment for Miles, his first major, and we're all excited to see him play and hopefully make the cut."
Jack Aschenbach, the director of the North Florida Junior Foundation where Russell played some of his early junior golf, called the prospect of Russell in a U.S. Open "thrilling."
"No one who has been around Miles is surprised he's playing at this level," Aschenbach said. "He's always had a mature demeanor and a confidence in his game from a young age."
Miles Russell overcame adversity in the qualifier
Russell earned his spot in the Open at last week's qualifier, overcoming in-round adversity and working overtime to finally nail it down.
He tripled his last hole in the first round for a 71, then, after making a late surge in the second round to move into first place, Russell doubled his next-to-last hole and fell into a three-for-two playoff with Collet and Ryder Cowan.
You must be registered for see images attach
Russell bogeyed the first playoff hole, but so did Collet, while Cowan made a par to clinch the third spot in the Open. Russell then reached the par-5 17th hole in two and two-putted for a birdie, while Collet found the water with his tee shot and never recovered.
What did Russell prove to himself in battling back from playing three holes at 6-over in a qualifier?
"That I can still qualify making triple and double and only birdieing one par-5," he joked. "Who knew? I think you just have to stay patient. Even though I made a triple, I was still okay with the way I was playing. You can make those kind of numbers and have plenty of holes to bounce back."
Russell also said the triple was a strong motivator in the second round.
You must be registered for see images
"At lunch, I kept thinking about all the opportunities I had," he said. "It was probably one of the best ball-striking events I've had all year, and I shot 1-under par. [But] if I don't make triple there, maybe I don't play as aggressive in the afternoon, and maybe I go and shoot 2-under, or 1-under. It could have been the best thing that happened to me."
Miles Russell arrived at Shinnecock early
Russell has seized the opportunity to play in the U.S. Open. He and his team arrived at Shinnecock a week before the first round to begin playing practice rounds at the wind-swept track with meandering fairways, deep fescue rough and greens as hard to read as trigonometry. He also went back to swing coach Ramon Bescansa as his caddie, after best bud Charlie Woods carried his bag in the qualifier.
The reason was simple: Bescansa helped two-time PGA Tour winner Russell Knox to his best career performance in a major championship with a tie for 12th at Shinnecock in 2018.
Knox said Bescansa will be a steady influence on Russell during the week.
"Ramon is an outstanding human being, first and foremost, a great guy," said Knox, who caddied for Rivera, his niece, at the U.S. Women's Open. "That is a huge attribute for a caddie-player relationship. The course has changed a little bit since 2018, but the biggest benefit for Miles is that he has already spent so much time with Ramon over the years, and has such a great knowledge of golf and Miles' game. He will be a great asset for Miles."
Russell's early scouting report on the Shinnecock was that hitting fairways was paramount.
You must be registered for see images attach
"I'm not going to play many golf courses that are harder than this," he said. "It's going to show your weaknesses and it's going to show you what you have to work on."
Those who have watched Russell aren't putting anything past his talent and mental toughness.
Podwalski loves to tell the story about how he walked past the short game area at Atlantic Beach and watched Russell chipping into the practice green ― off the coquina cart path.
"He was using old range balls and hitting open-faced wedges and hitting low, driving pitches that were two-hopping and spinning," Podwalski said. "His short game has always stood out for a kid his age. I think it can compete with anyone in the world. That, and his commitment to practice and how much he enjoys that process."
Miles Russell appreciates Open qualifying process
PGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour events don't offer sponsor invitations in a vacuum. If Russell had not been a world-class junior player, tournaments in Detroit, Bermuda, Kentucky, Napa Valley and Mexico wouldn't have offered him invitations, so in that sense, he earned those spots.
But he also has every right to feel more confident about playing at Shinnecock, since he earned it by posting the number he needed in 38 holes of golf in one day at BallenIsles.
You must be registered for see images attach
Russell has earned berths in Korn Ferry Tour events by finishing among the top 20 in the tournament before, and he got into the Club Car Championship through a Monday qualifier.
"Earning your way is definitely special," Russell said. "Somebody's not just handing you something."
Podwalski said Russell should feel as if he belongs in the field as much as the top players in the world.
"Miles appreciates sponsors and their invitations when he gets them," Podwalski said. "But this has to feel more special based on the level of play he needed last week to get there and make it happen."
What are Miles Russell's U.S. Open goals?
What will be Russell's expectations of himself this week? Obviously, making the cut and giving himself a chance to compete for low amateur.
But he also looks at the week as another step in his golf evolution.
"Have fun and learn," he said. "Go and play well. If that means you shoot a few good rounds, that's great but if you go and shoot in the 80s, it is what it is."
Knox said he thinks Russell will have the maturity to realize that no matter what happens this week, Russell will be back — at other majors, other PGA Tour events. The future is just beginning.
"I don't think playing in his first major will affect him one bit," Knox said. "His journey is just beginning, from what he wants to achieve. It's just the first step. He knows the journey will be longer and I think it that sense it will take the pressure off and the stress off. His journey will be a long one and he knows it."
Miles Russell's highlights in golf
Here are the career highlights in junior, amateur and professional golf for Jacksonville Beach native Miles Russell:
- 2018: Finished second in the boys 7-9 age group in the Augusta National Drive, Chip and Putt.
- 2019: Won three Florida Junior Tour events.
- 2020: Won the boys 11-year-old division in the U.S Kids World Championship, one FJT event.
- 2021: Won the boys 12-year-old division in the U.S Kids World Championship and two FJT events.
- 2022: Won three FJT events.
- 2023: Won four American Junior Golf Association events, including the youngest to win the Junior Players Championship, won the Junior PGA and three FJT events. Later that fall he became the youngest to win the AJGA Player of the Year award, beating a record held by Tiger Woods.
- 2024: Became the youngest player in history to make the cut at a Korn Ferry Tour event and tied for 20th at the LECOM Suncoast Open. He then played in his first PGA Tour event at the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit, missing the cut. Was a quarterfinalist at the U.S. Junior, then later won the AJGA Rolex Tournament of Champions.
- 2025: Won the Sage Valley Junior Invitational, the Junior Players and the AJGA Simplify Championship. Because the first to win two Junior Players Championships. Reached the quarterfinals in both the U.S. Amateur and the U.S. Junior Boys.
- 2026: Became the first to win the Sage Valley Junior Invitational twice, had his highest finish in a pro event with a tie for 15th at the Korn Ferry Tour Club Car Championship and qualified for the U.S. Open by winning a playoff at the BallenIsles Country Club.
- Russell has played in 12 professional events on the PGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour and made four cuts. His scoring average is 72.1 in 12 PGA Tour rounds and 69.75 in 20 Korn Ferry Tour rounds.
- He has won 14 Florida Junior Tour events and eight AJGA events.
- Russell has played on two Junior Ryder Cup teams and one Junior Presidents Cup team.
- He was on the inaugural USGA Junior National team.
Miles Russell's current rankings
- AJGA: 1st.
- Junior Golf Scoreboard: 1st.
- University Golf Junior Ranking: 1st.
- Junior Presidents Cup Ranking: 1st.
- World Amateur Ranking: 11th.
Garry Smits is a longtime golf reporter from the Florida Times Union in Jacksonville, part of the USA Today Network.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Teen golfer Miles Russell's U.S. Open quest has been a ride
Continue reading...
