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Miles Russell has been on a meteoric rise, and it's pushed him well onto the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR). Amateur golfers, which the 15-year-old is, do not usually get any points, as only a few tours and events worldwide provide the opportunity to earn them. Nevertheless, Russell's recent performance in a Korn Ferry tournament catapulted him into the ranks.
Prior to the event, he was naturally unranked. He hadn't really done anything that could give him points, so he wasn't on the leaderboard until Russell put in a tremendous outing at the LECOM Suncoast Classic. It pushed him all the way to rank 1738.
This is thanks to an outstanding performance in the tournament. Russell became the youngest golfer ever to make the cut at a Korn Ferry event, breaking Gipper Finau's record in 2006.
He then went on to play quite well, shooting 14 under for a T20 finish. That made Russell the youngest person ever (since tracking began in 1983) to finish in the top 25 of a Korn Ferry tournament.
That tremendous success has not only put him in the public eye, but it also forced his name onto and pretty high up the OWGR list. For someone who's never even played on the PGA Tour, being in the top 1800 is unexpected.
Miles Russell headed for PGA Tour appearance
Miles Russell's recent success attracted everyone's attention, including the PGA Tour. After shooting extremely well in a Korn Ferry event, he's slated to play the Butterfield Bermuda Championship later this year thanks to a sponsor exemption.
Before he does that, though, he will get another chance to play a Korn Ferry Tour event, the Veritex Bank Championship. If he does well, he'd see another jump in OWGR.
As for playing against the world's best professionals in the PGA Tour event, he said via Golf Monthly:
“I am honored to be receiving an exemption into the 2024 Butterfield Bermuda Championship. I have dreamt of playing on the PGA Tour my entire life and to have that dream coming to fruition later this year is a feeling that I cannot describe. I am grateful to the tournament and the AJGA for their partnership that is allowing me this incredible opportunity.”
Russell believes he can compete, and cited his last outing as proof:
“When I play well, I think I can compete with some of the better pros, but this week I played well and I think it kind of showed it a little bit. But good play is always good, and definitely confidence-boosting to finish where we're going to finish today.”
The young golfer is the world's top ranked amateur, and he's already captured titles for the 2018 Junior Honda Classic, the US Kids World Championship in 2020 and 2021, and the 2023 Junior Players Championship.
He's still a few years away from being eligible to turn pro on the PGA Tour or another tour, but he's on pace to get there in rapid fashion. If he continues playing well at the pro level even now at 15 years old, Russell will cement his status as a player to watch in the future.
