Miles Russell, 15 years old, made his debut on the PGA Tour. It was strangely normal

DETROIT — Miles Russell's pants don't fit. He didn't want to indicate his ankles through the first round of the Rocket Mortgage Classic on Thursday. It's just that the inseam he measured recently now not matches. He had a growth spurt shortly after and is now 5-foot-7, but he has to wear pants designed for a petite 5-foot-3 frame. His waist, meanwhile, is practically nonexistent. At 120 kilos, he sports a 28-inch waist “with a scrunched-up belt.”

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

That's the lifetime of a 15-year-old.

Russell made his PGA Tour debut on the Rocket Mortgage and shot 2 over par. Born in 2009, he signed autographs for 7-year-olds, 10-year-olds, 15-year-olds and a number of adults. A PGA Tour live camera was just feet behind him on every shot. He held a press conference the day before and after his first round. He played from 7,370 yards of tees. He played in a field with 10 of the highest 50 players on the earth.

And the strangest thing concerning the whole thing?

It felt strangely normal.

This 12 months, two 16-year-olds have already made the cut on the PGA Tour – Kris Kim on the CJ Cup Byron Nelson and Blades Brown on the Myrtle Beach Classic. Last 12 months, 15-year-old Oliver Betschart survived a 54-hole qualifier for the Bermuda Championship to change into the youngest player in nearly a decade to compete in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event. He was three months younger than Russell is now.

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

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) 27 June 2024

Now Russell is with Rocket Mortgage. In April, he played within the Korn Ferry Tour's LECOM Suncoast Classic and shot rounds of 68 and 66, making him the youngest player in the event tour's history to make the cut. Headlines followed. Then Russell followed with rounds of 70 and 66, ending T20. The winner, Tim Widing, was 11 years his senior.

Tournament organizers at Rocket Mortgage took notice of Russell and contacted him after his appearance on the Suncoast Classic, hoping to capitalize on the story. That's exactly what a tournament just like the Rocket needs: attention, nonetheless it could possibly get it. Big names are scarce in Detroit, so stories are needed. The Nos. 2, 4 and 5-ranked amateurs on the earth – Jackson Koivun, Benjamin James and Luke Clanton – are all in the sphere this 12 months. Clanton is making his PGA Tour debut, as is Neal Shipley, the lowest-ranked amateur on the Masters and U.S. Open who recently turned pro. As Shipley was leaving the course on Thursday, he was told there was a spot available for him in next week's John Deere Classic, one other low-ranking PGA Tour event.

However, these names all at the very least discuss with the faculty or are already there.

Russell just finished his freshman 12 months of highschool, although he doesn't attend an actual school. The Jacksonville Beach, Florida native began playing at age 2, broke par at age 6, and has been on an incredible trajectory ever since. He is homeschooled and already runs a small business. He has an agent and has Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) deals with TaylorMade and Nike.

Because the number 15 sounds so strange, some tend to contemplate Russell a novelty.

In reality, that is becoming increasingly rare.

Russell didn't come to Detroit like a child wanting to high five his heroes.

Rico Hoey, one in every of Russell's playing partners on Thursday, stood on the practice green after their round still in disbelief. At 28, he was attempting to break 80 at Russell's age. Going into the primary round, he assumed he and Pierceson Coody, a 24-year-old PGA Tour rookie with three Korn Ferry victories, would should take it easy and simple for the young star. Then they met him.

“As a 15-year-old, I'd probably be pretty nervous out here, so we tried to make it easy for him and make him feel good, but I really don't 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.”

Some will at all times be uncomfortable with young super-talents playing amongst professionals in any sport. But that has never stopped it. And golf appears to be growing in popularity and getting younger and younger. It's reasonable to assume that somebody will soon emerge who will surpass Michelle Wie West because the youngest player ever to tee off in a PGA Tour event. She was 14 years, three months and 7 days old when she played within the 2004 Sony Open.

What's most telling shouldn’t be the age, but how small the gap is between the children and the professionals. Russell is not any pumped-up bomber. Rather, he's elastic and, together together with his coach, former Korn Ferry player Ramon Bascansa, has developed a swing that generates enough clubhead speed to maintain up with the professionals. On Thursday, he averaged 292 yards off the tee, rating 78th in the sphere of 156.

But that doesn't mean every thing around him isn't right. He's not actually sufficiently old to make use of the lads's locker room at Detroit Golf Club, although exceptions are being made this week. He's not allowed to drive, let alone rent a automobile or check right into a hotel on his own. A gaggle behind Russell's, 36-year-old Rafael Campos played his round while smoking a number of cigarettes – a vice Russell won't have the ability to legally buy for one more three years.

Afterward, Russell joined in and asked questions on his experience, but really he was just talking concerning the game of golf. He talked about unforced errors and missing a number of makeable putts. He said he learned how tour pros manage to “hang in there and play a few shots under par” by watching Coody and Hoey. He said in fact he was nervous when he began the round. How nervous was he? “I'd probably give it a seven.” But he someway shook off the thought of ​​being intimidated.

Russell's voice was soft and he was obviously still a bit upset. A missed 3-foot putt on the ultimate hole gave him a final bogey.

“We live, we learn, we move on,” he said, sounding like someone who shouldn’t be only used to playing on tour, but actually expects it.

Maybe, for higher or worse, this isn't so crazy anymore.