15-Year-Old Miles Russell Makes History With T20 Finish At Korn Ferry Tour Event
15-Year-Old Miles Russell makes history with T20 finish ta Korn tour event at the Lakewood National Golf Club.
Russell earned his second Korn Ferry Tour start on Sunday, following a remarkable weekend at Lakewood National Golf Club. Russell finished the LECOM Suncoast Classic with a 5-under 66 on Sunday, including seven birdies in a 10-hole run.
This moved him to 14-under for the week and a T20 finish at the event, making him the youngest golfer to finish in the top 25 on either the PGA Tour or the Korn Ferry Tour since records began in 1983.
“It was an awesome week. It was a blast,” Russell said, via the PGA Tour. “Especially for my first one, you may get a couple weird looks, like, ‘Who’s the little kid on the range?’ But, you know, everybody was so nice and so helpful with everything.
“I just try to kind of go with flow and take it as it comes to me, and I’m trying to just stay cool. I was able to hit some good shots in the right moments.”
Russell, the reigning American Junior Golf Association Player of the Year, was playing under a sponsor’s exemption. Last year, he won the Junior PGA Championship by seven strokes and made history as the youngest individual to win the Junior Players Championship. Tiger Woods is the only other male player to have won the AJGA Player of the Year title at the age of 15.
Russell shot a 66 on Friday, becoming the youngest golfer to ever make the cut at 15 years, 5 months, and 17 days old. Gipper Finau, the younger brother of PGA Tour golfer Tony Finau, held the previous Korn Ferry Tour record at 16 years old.
“When I play well, I think I can compete with some of the better pros, but this week I played well and I think it kind of showed it a little bit,” Russell said. “But good play is always good, and definitely confidence-boosting to finish where we’re going to finish today.”
Russell is still competing as an amateur, so he will not receive any money or Korn Ferry Tour points, but his finish secured him a berth in next week’s Veritex Bank Championship in Texas. He isn’t old enough to join the Korn Ferry Tour full-time yet, but he can earn entry week after week. (Anyone finishing in the top 25 is automatically entered into the following week’s event.)
Tim Widing won the LECOM Suncoast Classic after defeating Steven Fisk and Patrick Cover in a playoff on Sunday. The foursome finished the week at 20-under, six shots better than Russell.
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