LAKEWOOD RANCH, Fla. — At just 15 years old, Jacksonville Beach native Miles Russell has earned himself an automatic bid into next week's Korn Ferry Tour event in Arlington, Texas, after finishing at -14, tied for 20th at the LECOM Suncoast Classic in Lakewood Ranch, Florida.
Earlier in the week, Russell became the youngest golfer ever to make the cut at a Korn Ferry Tour event.
“It’s a cool record to break, but I don’t know for how long. People are getting so good so young, so it could hold out for a week. You never know, but it’s pretty cool right now," said the high schooler.
After shooting 68-66-70 during the first three rounds, Russell fired a 66, five under par, in the fourth round, propelling him up 28 spots on the leaderboard and securing a coveted position inside the top 25. In doing so, he became the youngest player ever to achieve a top-25 finish in a Korn Ferry Tour or PGA TOUR event.
This accomplishment grants the world's number one junior golfer the opportunity to compete at the Veritex Bank Championship in Arlington, Texas.
“Everybody has been so nice, especially for my first one, you may get a couple weird looks like ‘who is the little kid on the range,’ but everybody was so nice and so helpful with everything,” Russell said. “It was an awesome week. It was a blast," said Russell.
Though he is not yet old enough to join the Korn Ferry Tour or earn points toward a PGA Tour card since he is not yet 18 years old, he could continue playing his way into tournaments with continuous top-25 finishes, as players from the prior week's top 25 are eligible to play in the following week's tournament.
Even though this was Russell's first professional tournament, he is accustomed to the big stage as the reigning American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) Player of the Year. He dominated last year's Junior PGA Championship, winning it by seven strokes, claimed victory at the Junior Players Championship, and also secured an NIL deal with Transcend Capital Advisors last year.
