‘Who’s the little kid on the range’: This US 15-year-old golfer is making history – and then some

Most typical 15-year-olds would be worried about their grades or the intricacies of social life as a teenager.

But Miles Russell is no ordinary 15-year-old. He spent his weekend worrying about making the cut at a professional golf event and setting records against seasoned veterans at the LECOM Suncoast Classic.

On Friday, he became youngest player to make a cut on the Korn Ferry Tour – the PGA Tour’s developmental tour – at 15 years, 5 months and 18 days, breaking the previous record set by Gipper Finau at the 2006 Utah Championship.

Just qualifying for the weekend was quite the achievement, but Russell wasn’t done yet.

He carded a one-under 70 in Saturday’s third round at Lakewood National Golf Club’s Commander course before finishing with an excellent final-round, five-under 66 which included seven birdies in a 10-hole stretch.

With that late flurry, the Jacksonville Beach native finished tied-20th at 14-under for the tournament.

In doing so, high school freshman Russell became the youngest player on record (since 1983) to notch a top-25 finish on the PGA Tour or the Korn Ferry Tour.

“It was an awesome week. It was a blast,” Russell said afterwards. “Especially for my first one, you may get a couple weird looks, like: ‘Who’s the little kid on the range?’ But, you know, everybody was so nice and so helpful with everything.

“I just try to kind of go with flow and take it as it comes to me, and I’m trying to just stay cool. I was able to hit some good shots in the right moments.”

With his top-25 finish, Russell qualifies for the Korn Ferry Tour’s Veritex Bank Championship at Texas Rangers Golf Club in Arlington this week.

Before turning 18, players are not eligible for non-member Korn Ferry Tour Points toward Special Temporary Membership. Therefore, he cannot join the tour full-time for another few years but can continue to participate if the results qualify him to do so.

As the youngest player at the tournament by far, there was plenty of pressure on Russell throughout.

But he played with the poise of a player twice his age, seemingly unbothered by the additional attention.

Even when he had a rocky start to his third round – he was four-over on the day after three holes – he was able to recover and finish strongly.

“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,” Russell – who is the top-ranked boys prospect by the American Junior Golf Association – said. “But good play is always good, and [it’s] definitely confidence-boosting to finish where we’re going to finish today.”

Source: CNNSPORTS

Scottie Scheffler unstoppable and wins another Masters green jacket

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Scottie Scheffler spent more time looking at his feet than any of the white leaderboards at Augusta National, all of them showing what everyone was watching — a Masters champion again, the undisputed best player in golf.

He prefers to stay in his own little world, population one.

Nobody is close to him in the game at the moment.

Scheffler is No. 1 in the world by a margin not seen since Tiger Woods in his prime. In nine tournaments this year, he doesn’t have a round over par and has earned over $15 million. And on Sunday, he delivered the greatest piece of evidence when he slipped into that green jacket.

Scheffler pulled ahead with magnificent shots around the turn, poured it on along the back nine as his challengers melted away with mistakes and closed with a 4-under 68 to claim his second Masters in three years with a four-shot victory.

“I had a lot of really talented players trying to chase me down, and I knew pars weren’t going to get it done,” Scheffler said.Unlike two years ago when he won his first major, there were no doubts Sunday morning, no tears, and no wife to reassure him he was built for a moment like this. His wife, Meredith, was home in Dallas expecting their first child at the end of the month.

Scheffler made sure there was no drama, either.

Much like Woods he made the outcome look inevitable with sublime control, the difference being a peach shirt instead of Sunday red, and no fist pumps until it was over.

After sharing hugs with caddie Ted Scott and Collin Morikawa, Scheffler turned to face the crowd with both arms raised. “WOOOOOO!” he yelled, slamming his fist.

Masters newcomer Ludvig Aberg, among four players who had a share of the lead at one point, lost ground with his approach went into the pond left of the 11th hole and he made double bogey. Against a player like Scheffler, those mistakes are not easy to overcome.

Aberg closed with a 69 and was the runner-up, not a bad debut for someone playing in his first major championship.

Morikawa, who had two double bogeys to fall out of the hunt, shot 74 and tied for third with Tommy Fleetwood (69) and Max Homa (73), whose hopes ended on the par-3 12th with a double bogey from the bushes, not Rae’s Creek.

“He is pretty amazing at letting things roll off his back and stepping up to very difficult golf shots and treating them like their own,” Homa said about Scheffler. “He’s obviously a tremendous talent, but I think that is his superpower.”

Woods, meanwhile, closed with a 77 and finished in last place at 16-over 304, the highest 72-hole score of his career. This came two days after he set the Masters record for making his 24th consecutive cut.

The 27-year-old Scheffler is the fourth-youngest player to have two green jackets. He now has three victories against the strongest fields — Bay Hill, The Players Championship and the Masters — in his last four starts. The other was a runner-up finish in Houston.

Scheffler finished at 11-under 277 and earned $3.6 million from the $20 million purse.

Source: APnews