DETROIT — Myles Russell’s pants didn’t fit. He didn’t mean to show off his ankle during Thursday’s first-round game at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. However, his recent measurement of the inseam no longer applies. Soon after he started growing rapidly and is now 5 feet 7 inches tall, but still wears 5 feet 6 inches of trousers. At the same time, his waist is almost non-existent. He weighed 120 pounds and had a 28-inch waist with a “tight belt.”
Russell took a stroll around Detroit Golf Club on Thursday, flashing his ankles with every step.
This is the life of a 15-year-old boy.
Russell made his PGA Tour debut at Rocket Mortgage, shooting a 2-over 74. He filmed every swing with a PGA Tour live camera a few feet behind him. He held press conferences the day before and after the first round. He plays 7,370 yards off the tee. He plays with 10 of the top 50 players in the world.
What’s the weirdest thing?
It feels weird.
Two 16-year-olds have advanced to the PGA Tour this year – Kris Kim in the CJ Cup Byron Nelson and Blades Brown in Myrtle Myrtle Beach Classic. Last year, 15-year-old Oliver Betschart emerged from the 54-hole qualifying round to compete in the Bermuda Championship, becoming the youngest player to compete in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event in nearly a decade. He is three months younger than Russell is now.
15-year-old Miles Russell makes his first birdie on Tour 🤩 pic.twitter.com/5tLfnf5HuW
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 27, 2024
Now Russell at Rocket Mortgage. In April, he participated in the Korn Ferry Tour’s LECOM Sunshine Coast Classic, shooting 68 and 66 respectively, becoming the youngest player to advance in the history of the Development Tour. Headlines followed. Russell then shot 70 and 66, finishing tied for 20th. The winner, Tim Widing, was 11 years older.
Event organizers at Rocket Mortgage noticed Russell’s performance at the Sunshine Coast Classic and contacted him to capitalize on the story. Because that’s what a tournament like the Rockets desperately needs — attention, whatever it may get. Detroit rarely has big names, so it needs compelling storylines. The world’s No. 2, No. 4 and No. 5 amateurs — Jackson Koivin, Benjamin James and Luke Clanton — are all on this year’s roster. Clanton is about to make his PGA Tour debut, as is Neil Shipley, an amateur at the Masters and U.S. Open who recently turned pro. As Shipley walked off the course Thursday, he was told he would be offered a spot in next week’s John Deere Classic, another non-elevated PGA Tour event.
However, these names are at least in or outside of college.
Russell just finished his freshman year of high school, although he didn’t go to sports school. The Jacksonville Beach, Fla., native started playing golf at age 2, broke par at age 6, and has been on an amazing path ever since. He was home-schooled and already ran a small business. He has an agent and has name, image and likeness (NIL) agreements with TaylorMade and Nike.
Because 15 sounds harsh, some people tend to view Russell as a novelty.
In fact, this is becoming less and less common.
Russell didn’t come to Detroit high-fiving his hero like some kid.
Rico Hoey, one of Russell’s playing partners, stood on the practice green after his round Thursday, still in a bit of disbelief. Now 28, he’s trying to break 80 at Russell’s age. Going into the first round, he thought he and Pierson Cudi, a 24-year-old PGA Tour rookie with three wins at Korn Ferry, needed to make things easy for the young star. Then they met him.
“As a 15-year-old kid, I’m sure I would be very nervous here, so we were trying to loosen him up and make him feel comfortable, but, really, I don’t even know how much he needed that,” Hoy said. “He’s cool. His bunt game is really good. He’s got a lot of length for his size. He has a great game and is very clinical.
Russell shot a 74 in his first round on the PGA Tour on Thursday. (Raj Mehta/Getty Images)
Some people are always uncomfortable with young super talents being accelerated into the pros in any sport. But that never stopped it from happening. Golf seems to be growing faster and faster, and with younger players. It is reasonable to expect that someone will soon surpass Michelle Wie West as the youngest player to compete on the PGA Tour. She was 14 years, three months and seven days old when she competed in the 2004 Sony Open.
The most eye-opening thing is not the age, but how small the gap is between kids and professionals. Russell is not a souped-up bomber. Instead, he was resilient and crafted his swing with his coach, former Korn Ferry player Ramon Bascansa, to generate enough clubhead speed to be on par with the pros. . He averaged 292 yards on kickoff Thursday, tied for 78th in the 156-player field.
But that doesn’t mean everything around him still doesn’t fit. Technically, he’s not old enough to use the men’s locker room at Detroit Golf Club, but there’s an exception this week. He couldn’t drive, let alone rent a car or check into a hotel on his own. In the group behind Russell, 36-year-old Rafael Campos played ball and tore through several cigarettes — a vice that Russell wouldn’t be able to legally purchase for the next three years.
Afterwards, Russell played and questioned the experience, but in reality all he cared about was golf. He talked about unforced errors and missing out on some actionable puts. He said that by watching Cudi and Hoy, he learned how tour pros “struggled and knocked out a few opponents.” Of course, he said, he was nervous about starting the round. What is a perfect score of 10? “I’d probably give it a seven.” But kind of shook off the idea of being intimidated.
Russell’s voice was very soft, obviously still a little annoyed. Missed by 3 feet on the final hole and ended up with a bogey.
“We live, we learn, and we keep going,” he said, sounding like a man who is not only used to playing on tour, but almost expects it.
Maybe, for better or worse, this isn’t so crazy anymore.
(Top photo: Raj Mehta/Getty Images)
