Miles Russell, 15, made his PGA Tour debut. It was strangely normal

DETROIT – Miles Russell’s pants don’t fit. He didn’t mean to show off his ankles during the first round of the Rocket Mortgage Classic on Thursday. The inseam length for which it was recently measured just no longer applies. He had a growth spurt soon after and now measures 6 feet 4 inches, but was stuck with pants meant for a small 5-6. His waistline, meanwhile, is still virtually nonexistent. Weighing 120 pounds, he carries a 28-inch waist “with a crinkled belt.”

So there Russell was on Thursday, walking around the Detroit Golf Club, showing his ankles with every step.

This is what life looks like for a 15-year-old.

Russell made his PGA Tour debut at Rocket Mortgage, where he shot a 2-over 74. Born in 2009, he signed autographs for 7-year-olds, 10-year-olds, 15-year-olds and a few adults. He took every shot with a PGA Tour Live camera a few feet behind him. He held a press conference the day before and after his first round. He played from tees of 7,370 yards. He played in a field that included 10 of the top 50 players in the world.

And the strangest thing of all?

It felt strangely normal.

This year, two 16-year-olds have already made it to the PGA Tour: Kris Kim at The CJ Cup Byron Nelson and Blades Brown at the Myrtle Beach Classic. Last year, 15-year-old Oliver Betschart survived a 54-hole qualifying match to play in the Bermuda Championship, becoming the youngest player in nearly a decade to play in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event. He was three months younger than Russell is now.

First birdie on TOUR for 15-year-old Miles Russell 🤩 pic.twitter.com/5tLfnf5HuW

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 27, 2024

Now it’s Russell 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 development tour’s history. The headlines followed. Russell then followed with rounds of 70 and 66 to complete 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 capitalize on the story. Because that’s what a tournament like the Rocket desperately needs — attention, no matter how it gets it. Big names are scarce in Detroit, so compelling storylines are needed. The amateurs ranked 2, 4 and 5 in the world — Jackson Koivun, Benjamin James and Luke Clanton — are all in this year’s field. Clanton is making his debut on the PGA Tour, as is Neal Shipley, the lowly amateur at the Masters and US Open 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, has a spot for him.

All of these names are from or have recently graduated from university.

Russell just completed his freshman year of high school, even though he doesn’t attend a brick-and-mortar school. The Jacksonville Beach, Florida, native started playing at age 2, broke par at age 6 and has been on a prodigious path ever since. He is homeschooled and is already a small business owner. He has an agent and has Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) deals with TaylorMade and Nike.

Because 15 sounds so shocking, there is a tendency among some to see Russell as something new.

In reality, all of this is becoming less and less unusual.

Russell didn’t come to Detroit as a kid wanting to high-five his heroes.

Rico Hoey, one of Russell’s playing partners on Thursday, stood on the practice green after their round and was still a bit in disbelief. He was now 28 and trying to break into 80 at Russell’s age. Going into the first round, he figured he and Pierceson Coody, a 24-year-old PGA Tour rookie with three Korn Ferry victories to his credit, would have to keep things light and easy for the young star. Then they met him.

“I’m sure being 15 years old here I would be pretty nervous, so we tried to make it easy for him and make him feel comfortable, but I don’t even know how much he needed that,” Hoey said. “He was cool. His short game is really good. He’s got a lot of length for his size. His game is just really good and he’s really calm.”

Russell shot a 74 in his first PGA Tour round on Thursday. (Raj Mehta/Getty Images)

Some will always be uncomfortable with the fact that young mega-watt talents are being fast-tracked to play among professionals in any sport. But that never stopped it. And golf seems to be getting more and more popular, and getting younger and younger. It’s reasonable to expect someone to emerge soon to surpass Michelle Wie West as the youngest player to ever play a PGA Tour event. She was 14 years, three months and seven days old when she played in the 2004 Sony Open.

What’s most startling is not the ages, but how small the gap is between the kids and the pros. Russell isn’t some beefed up bomber. Instead, he’s elastic and, along with his coach, former Korn Ferry player Ramon Bascansa, has crafted a swing that generates enough clubhead speed to stay in the pros. He averaged 292 yards off the tee on Thursday and finished tied for 78th in the 156-man field.

But that doesn’t mean everything around him isn’t still out of place. He’s not technically old enough to use the men’s locker room at Detroit Golf Club, although exceptions are being made this week. He is not allowed to drive, let alone rent a car or check into a hotel alone. A group behind Russell, 36-year-old Rafael Campos, played his round while smoking a few cigarettes — a vice that Russell cannot legally purchase for the next three years.

Russell then played along with questions about the experience, but was really only focused on the golf. He talked about making unforced errors and missing a few makeable putts. He said he learned from watching Coody and Hoey how tour pros are able to “fight it out and undershoot a few.” He said he was naturally nervous to start the round. How many out of 10? “I’d probably give it a seven.” But he dismissed the idea of ​​being intimidated.

Russell’s voice was soft and he was clearly still a little irritated. A missed 3-footer on the final hole made for a closing 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 it.

Maybe, for better or for worse, that’s not so crazy anymore.

(Top photo: Raj Mehta/Getty Images)