15-year-old Miles Russell makes history with T20 finish at Korn Ferry Tour event, earns another start
At 15 years old, Miles Russell is finishing his freshman year of high school this spring.
On Sunday, after a historic weekend at Lakewood National Golf Club, Russell got another start on the Korn Ferry Tour.
Russell posted a 5-under 66 on Sunday and made an incredible seven birdies over a 10-hole stretch to close out the LECOM Suncoast Classic. That took him to 14-under this week and gave him a T20 at the event, which made him the youngest player since they started keeping records in 1983 to finish in the top 25 on the PGA Tour or Korn Ferry Tour.
“It was a great week. It was awesome,” Russell said via the PGA Tour. “Especially for my first one, you might get a few weird looks, like, ‘Who’s the little kid at the booth?’ But you know, everyone was so nice and so helpful about everything.
“I just try to go with the flow and take things as they come to me, and just try to stay cool. I’ve been able to hit some good shots in good times.”
Russell, who is the reigning American Junior Golf Association Player of the Year, was competing on a sponsor’s exemption. He won the PGA Junior Championship by seven strokes last year and became the youngest person to win the Junior Players Championship. The only other male player to win the AJGA Player of the Year award at age 15 was Tiger Woods.
Russell also posted a 66 on Friday, making him the youngest player to ever qualify at 15 years, 5 months and 17 days. Gipper Finau, the younger brother of PGA Tour golfer Tony Finau, held the previous Korn Ferry Tour mark at age 16. China’s Guan Tianlang made the cut at the Masters in 2013 when he was 14 years old. This is the record for a PGA Tour event.
“When I play well, I think I can compete with some of the top pros, but this week I played well and I think that showed it a little bit,” Russell said. “But a good game is always good, and it definitely gives confidence to finish where we’re going to finish today.”
Although Russell still competes as an amateur and will not receive any money or points from the Korn Ferry Tour, his result earned him a spot in next week’s Veritex Bank Championship in Texas. He’s not yet old enough to join the Korn Ferry Tour full-time, but he can continue to earn entries week after week. (Anyone who finishes in the top 25 automatically earns entry to the following week’s event.)
Tim Widing defeated Steven Fisk and Patrick Cover in a playoff Sunday to win the LECOM Suncoast Classic. The trio came in at 20 under for the week, six shots better than Russell.
News Source : sports.yahoo.com
Gn sports
