DETROIT – Miles Russell’s pants don’t fit. He didn’t mean to show off his ankles during the first round of Thursday’s Rocket Mortgage Classic. It’s just that the inseam that was recently measured no longer applies. Soon after he experienced a growth spurt and is now 5-foot-7, but he was left in pants meant for a petite 5-6. Meanwhile, his waist remains almost non-existent. He weighs 120 pounds and has a 28-inch waist “with a wrinkled belt.”
So there Russell was on Thursday, walking around the Detroit Golf Club, showing off those ankles with every step.
This is the life of a 15-year-old boy.
Russell made his PGA Tour debut at the Rocket Mortgage, shooting a 2-over-par 74. Born in 2009, he signed autographs for 7-, 10- and 15-year-olds and a few adults. He took every swing with PGA Tour Live cameras a few feet behind him. He held a news conference the day before his first round and afterward. He played from 7,370-yard tees. He played a field with 10 of the world’s top 50 players.
And the strangest thing about all this?
It felt strangely normal.
This year, two 16-year-olds have already managed to enter the PGA Tour: Kris Kim, in the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, and Blades Brown, in the Myrtle Beach Classic. Last year, 15-year-old Oliver Betschart survived a 54-hole qualifier to play in the Bermuda Championship, becoming the youngest player to play in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event in nearly a decade. He was three months younger than Russell now.
First birdie on the TOUR for 15-year-old Miles Russell 🤩 pic.twitter.com/5tLfnf5HuW
– PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 27, 2024
Now it’s Russell who’s at Rocket Mortgage. In April, he played in the Korn Ferry Tour’s LECOM Suncoast Classic, shooting rounds of 68 and 66 to become the youngest player to make the cut in the history of the developmental tour. The headlines followed. Russell then followed up with rounds of 70 and 66 to finish T20. The winner, Tim Widing, was 11 years older than him.
Tournament organizers at Rocket Mortgage took notice and contacted Russell after his performance at the Suncoast Classic, hoping to cash in on the story. Because that’s what a tournament like the Rocket desperately needs: attention, however it can get it. Big names are rare in Detroit, so compelling stories are required. The world’s No. 2, 4, and 5-ranked amateurs (Jackson Koivun, Benjamin James, and Luke Clanton) are all in this year’s field. Clanton is making his PGA Tour debut, as is Neal Shipley, the Masters and US Open amateur who recently turned pro. As Shipley walked off the course Thursday, he was told that next week’s John Deere Classic, another non-elevated PGA Tour event, had a spot for him.
However, all of these names correspond to people who are inside or outside the university.
Russell just finished his first year of high school, although he does not attend a physical school. The Jacksonville Beach, Florida, native began playing at age 2, broke par on the 6th hole, and has been on a prodigious path ever since. He homeschooled and already operates as a small business. He has an agent and has name, image and likeness (NIL) agreements with TaylorMade and Nike.
Because 15 sounds so discordant, some tend to see Russell as a novelty.
In reality, all this is becoming less and less strange.
Russell didn’t come to Detroit as a kid looking to high-five his heroes.
Rico Hoey, one of Russell’s playing partners on Thursday, was on the practice green after his round and still a little in disbelief. Now 28, he was trying to top 80 at Russell’s age. Coming into the first round, he assumed that he and Pierceson Coody, a 24-year-old PGA Tour rookie with three Korn Ferry wins to his name, would need to keep things light and easy for the young star. Then they met him.
“As a 15-year-old, I’m sure he would be pretty nervous here, so we tried to make it easy for him and make him feel comfortable, but, really, I don’t even know how much he needed that,” Hoey said. “He was great. His short game is really good. He’s got a lot of length for his size. His game is really good and he’s very calm.”
Russell shot a 74 in his first round on the PGA Tour on Thursday. (Raj Mehta//Keynote USA/Getty Images)
Some will always feel inherently uncomfortable with young megawatt talents being fast-tracked to play among professionals in any sport. But that never stopped it from happening. And golf seems to be getting faster and younger. It’s reasonable to expect someone to emerge soon and surpass Michelle Wie West as the youngest player to play in a PGA Tour event. She was 14 years, three months and seven days old when she played the 2004 Sony Open.
The most telling thing is not the ages, but how narrow the gap is between children and professionals. Russell is not a reinforced bomber. Instead, he is springy and has created a swing with his coach, former Korn Ferry player Ramon Bascansa, that generates enough clubhead speed to compete with the pros. He averaged 292 yards off the tee on Thursday, tied for 78th in the 156-man field.
But that doesn’t mean everyone around him isn’t still a misfit. He’s not technically old enough to use the men’s locker room at the Detroit Golf Club, though exceptions are being made this week. He can’t drive, let alone rent a car or check into a hotel alone. A group behind Russell, Rafael Campos, 36, played his round while smoking a few cigarettes, a vice Russell won’t be able to legally purchase for another three years.
Russell then followed the game with questions about the experience, but he was really only concerned about golf. He talked about unforced errors and missing some putts that could be made. He said he learned from watching Coody and Hoey how tour pros manage to “go hard and hit a couple under-par shots.” He said that of course he was nervous to start the round. How much of 10? “I’d probably give it a seven.” But he sort of downplayed the idea of being intimidated.
Russell’s voice was soft and it was evident he was still a little upset. A missed 3-footer on the final hole left him with a final bogey.
“We live, we learn, we move on,” he said, sounding like someone who is not only used to playing on tour, but almost expects to.
Maybe, for better or worse, that’s not so far-fetched anymore.
(Top photo: Raj Mehta / /Keynote USA/Getty Images)
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