Miles Russell, 15, to make PGA Tour debut after Korn Ferry Tour success

“Ever since I first started playing golf,” Russell said in a statement Monday, “my dream has been to compete on the PGA Tour and test my game against the best players, and I’m looking forward to making the most of the experience later this month.”

A native of Jacksonville Beach, Fla., Russell added that he was “thankful” to the Detroit-based tournament’s title sponsor for giving him the opportunity to make his debut at golf’s highest level.

It’s the next step in what has already been an impressive career in the sport for Russell, who last year became the youngest boy to earn player of the year recognition from the American Junior Golf Association, besting a mark set more than three decades earlier by Tiger Woods.

Russell’s feat on the Korn Ferry Tour came at an event in April. Playing in his home state at the Suncoast Classic, Russell opened with rounds of 68 and 66 to become the youngest player to make a cut on that circuit. He broke a record set in 2006 by Gipper Finau, the younger brother of PGA Tour standout Tony Finau.

Assuming he tees off at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, Russell won’t be the youngest to do so on the PGA Tour. That status is still held by Michelle Wie West, who was 14 years 3 months 4 days old when she used a sponsor exemption to play in the 2004 Sony Open, where she barely missed the cut.

The youngest boy to play in a PGA Tour event was 14-year-old Guan Tianlang at the 2013 Masters, where he made the cut. Per the PGA Tour, older 14-year-olds who also made their tour debuts at that age include Andy Zhang (2012 U.S. Open) and Lorens Chan (2009 Sony Open). Russell will join a list of 15-year-old PGA Tour debutantes that includes John Oda (2012 Sony Open), Tadd Fujikawa (2006 U.S. Open) and, going back to the 1957 Canadian Open, Bob Panasik.

Russell, who finished tied for 20th at the Korn Ferry event, will seek to become the youngest PGA Tour player to make a cut since Guan at the 2013 Zurich Classic. Last month, a pair of 16-year-olds, Kris Kim (at the Byron Nelson) and Blades Brown (at the Myrtle Beach Classic) made cuts on the tour.

The recently completed U.S. Women’s Open saw a 15-year-old girl, Asterisk Talley, make the cut and appear near the top of the leader board before she finished tied for 44th.

“Miles exemplifies the future of golf, and our tournament is the perfect stage for young talent to shine,” Rocket Mortgage executive Casey Hurbis said of Russell in a statement Monday.

Russell also has accepted a sponsor exemption to play in another PGA Tour event, the Bermuda Championship, in November. In a qualifying tournament Monday for this year’s U.S. Open, he shot even par over two rounds, performing better than accomplished veterans such as Harold Varner III and Russell Knox but still falling three shots short of possibly making that field.