Meet Miles Russell, the young head-turner on the Korn Ferry Tour

ARLINGTON, Texas – Miles Russell, a 15-year-old kid, made headlines on the Korn Ferry Tour last week – the youngest player ever to cut 36 holes and record a top-20 finish – but when he arrived. at the Veritex Bank Championship Korn Ferry event this week, he was cleared of the two challenges of finding a rental car and closing a housing scheme.

“It's good that you need me for that; they don't really need me for golf,” joked his father, Joe Russell, a top Florida health promoter, who is here this week with longtime caddy and coach Ramon Bescansa.

Of course, the father took the check for dinner on Tuesday night at the local Pappadeaux, but otherwise, he resigned instead of using the sunlight in the range while his son and Bescansa honed their work next to other players, some more than twice the age of youth.

Miles Russell, a high school freshman, finished T20 at the LECOM Suncoast Classic last week, and a top-25 finish qualified him for this week, his second Korn Ferry Tour event. Plays at 2:43pm local time. A surprise? It is possible. But Russell's list of accomplishments is longer than his slightly built 5-foot-7 frame.

The AJGA's top-ranked junior player, he broke Tiger Woods' record as the youngest player ever to win the AJGA Player of the Year and became the youngest player ever to win the Junior Players Championship. He captured the Junior PGA Championship by seven shots, played in the Junior Ryder Cup and was named to the USGA Junior National first team. And don't forget his 17 Florida Junior Golf Tournament wins and the PGA Tour's upcoming release from Bermuda's fall tournament.

Although there is still room for improvement – at least in some areas.

“I have to be better (with autographs),” he said. “I have to be very quick.”

With his large TaylorMade crew bag (with his name on it) a NIL deal and a promising future, he seems like a modern mini-golf, albeit old-school because he refuses to wear ear buds when he warms up.

“I prefer to hear the sound of the ball coming out of the club,” he said.

Both his PGA Tournament mentor, Steve Wheatcroft, who was a member of Russell's home courses, Atlantic Beach Country Club, and Bescansa, stressed that no matter how bright his future is, there will be struggles along the way. Wheatcroft also taught him something that would help him along the way – the art of trash talking and money games.

“Weathie!” Russell said, as he thought about their time together. “He took the money from me and turned around and I took it from him.”

Added Atlantic Beach golf pro Richard Podwalski: “Steve would chase him and throw trash at him and make him tough. That was his job and he did it well.”

Around Atlantic Beach, Russell has made a name for himself.

There was an albatross on the par-5 6th last summer, where he holed a 5-wood from 239 yards, only second in recent club history. (“He was too young to buy drinks after that, so we gave him a framed piece of art,” Podwalski said.) He has already shot 29 times on the front nine of the par-72 course; his drop is 62, and Podwalski says 59 is not true. And of course, they're still talking about his shooting during the annual Black Friday shooting last November.

Russell putt his ball on the 9th behind a tree in the rough, just six inches from the tree's roots. It doesn't matter. He hit a 3-iron, sent the ball high into the tree, bent it and put it near the green. The gallery was astonished; Tour players Doc Redman and Vince Covello shook their heads in amazement.

“I've been playing tournament golf for 30 years,” Covello said, “and that's the biggest shot I've ever seen.”

It's not uncommon to see Russell practicing alone in the basement for hours or backing up the cart path. Joe Russell stopped playing with his son a long time ago, but his last game was one to remember.

“It was the year Tiger and Phil played The Match on TV, and we decided to have our own match,” he said. “He went back (at the age of 11) and beat me by 10 shots. I said I'm done.”

Russell has even learned how to turn the odd disappointment into a positive one. In 2016, he shot six under 30 at the US Kids regional event, but lost by one shot to his best friend Graden Lomax, who shot 29. But instead of getting upset and losing friendships, he got better, he built a team. The Florida Sunshine Cup with Lomax, where the best young players come together for a day to raise money for local charities, including Nicklaus Children's Hospital, which has raised $300,00 over the past five years.

“It started as a dream, but it turned out great,” said Joe Russell.

It's like his first Korn Ferry Tour.