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Editor's Note: Miles Russell, who was recently named to the inaugural U.S. National Junior Team that comprises eight boys and 10 girls from across the United States, just made Korn Ferry Tour history by finishing tied for 20th in the LECOM Suncoast Classic in Florida at the age of 15. The finish earned the high school freshman from Jacksonville, Fla., a spot in this coming week's Korn Ferry Tour event (Veritex Bank Championship) in Texas.
It sounds like the setup to a golf joke: A teenager, an ER doctor, a former New York fire captain and a retired physician meet on the first tee. Really, though, it’s Miles Russell’s regular foursome at Atlantic Beach Country Club in Florida. He’s the teen, and he gets plenty of life advice. “It’s a pretty crazy group, but a special one,” Russell says, adding, “They’re not quite my age.”
No, not quite. Russell turned 15 in November, just one day before being named the American Junior Golf Association’s Rolex Boys Player of the Year. He’s the youngest ever to receive that award – displacing Tiger Woods, who first earned the honor in 1991 at 15 years, 10 months.
The left-handed Russell kicked off his first full AJGA season in April with two straight wins: the TaylorMade TP5 Junior All-Star in Southern Pines, N.C., where he shot 6 under for 36 holes; and the Moon Golf Junior All-Star in Viera, Fla., shooting 15 under for 54 holes in a Tiger-like 10-stroke romp.
But when asked about the year’s most memorable competition, he cites his runner-up finish at the Team TaylorMade Invitational in May at Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. Russell lost by one to a player four years his senior and says that experience at such a big tournament gave him “a lot of confidence going into the summer.”
It paid off. In August, Russell won the Junior PGA Championship in Arkansas (18 under for 72 holes) and the Junior Players Championship in September (-9 for 54 holes at TPC Sawgrass), becoming the youngest-ever champion of both events and earning a spot on the U.S. Junior Ryder Cup Team that competed in Italy.
Russell’s bad shots are clearly as rare as a blue moon, but how does he react to one? “Take a couple of deep breaths and zone everything out – a full system restart,” he says. “Walk a little slower maybe, and just keep on going.”
That’s a wise old head – chalk it up to the company he keeps.
Christine Bader is an Oregon-based writer who contributes to Golf Journal magazine.
