Russell: So young, so good

All it took was just one chip from Miles Russell to turn Ramon Bescansa into a believer. 

Russell was just six years old, and Bescansa, who also works as a putting coach for PGA Tour players like Chris Kirk and Harris English, wasn’t looking to add a kindergartener to his stable of students. But that one shot convinced Bescansa that this kid was different.

Russell’s technique was sound, the contact crisp, as he cleanly picked the ball from the turf.  

“I can work with this,” Bescansa said. 

Catching others by surprise has become a theme with Russell.

He has seemingly skipped years and steps with every passing accomplishment. He broke par for the first time at age six, and finished second in the Drive, Chip and Putt finals at Augusta National Golf Club when he was nine.

He played from the tips before he was a teenager and made his high school golf team in sixth grade. He won both the Junior PGA Championship and Junior PLAYERS at 14, then won the AJGA’s Player of the Year Award a day after turning 15, supplanting Tiger Woods as the youngest to win AJGA Player of the Year.

Many kids become dominant juniors because of early growth spurts that leave them looming over their peers, hitting drives that sail well past those of their competitors.

This is not the case for Russell. He looks like your average high school sophomore, standing 5-foot-7 and weighing 135 pounds, but he has separated himself with a skill set that includes the same elite short game that impressed Bescansa years ago.

Russell has proven adept against the pros, as well.

In April, he became the youngest player ever to make a cut on the Korn Ferry Tour. He finished T20 to become the youngest to finish in the top 25 of a PGA Tour-sanctioned event, as well.

Now, he’s making his PGA Tour debut at this week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic after receiving a sponsor exemption into the field.

“Korn Ferry was pretty cool,” Russell said.

“So, I can only imagine what a PGA Tour event is.”