Miles Russell, 15, to play Rocket Mortgage Classic

Miles Russell already has finished in the top 25 of a Korn Ferry Tour event. Now he is preparing to play on the PGA TOUR.

He’s just 15.

The Rocket Mortgage Classic announced Monday that it has given Russell a sponsor exemption into the PGA TOUR’s annual stop in Detroit. The tournament will be played June 27-30 at Detroit Golf Club.

Russell has quickly established himself as one of golf’s top up-and-coming prospects. He won both the Junior PGA Championship and Junior PLAYERS Championship in 2023, then became the youngest player to ever be named the American Junior Golf Association’s Player of the Year. Tiger Woods is the only other player to win the award before turning 16.

This year, Russell became the youngest player to ever make a cut on the Korn Ferry Tour and just the second player under the age of 16 to make a cut on either the PGA TOUR or Korn Ferry Tour (Tianlang Guan is the other).

Russell eventually finished T20 at the Korn Ferry Tour’s Lecom Suncoast Classic, shooting 68-66-70-66.

Russell will be among the youngest players ever to make their debut on the PGA TOUR. The record belongs to Michelle Wie West, who was granted a sponsor exemption to play in the 2004 Sony Open at the age of 14 years, 3 months and 4 days. Wie West also became the fourth woman to play a TOUR event. Guan (2013 Masters), Andy Zhang (2012 U.S. Open) and Lorens Chan (2009 Sony Open) also debuted at 14 years old. Other 15-year-olds to play TOUR events have included John Oda (2012 Sony Open), Tadd Fujikawa (2006 U.S. Open) and Bob Pasanik (1957 Canadian Open).

Russell will be looking to follow in the footsteps of a pair of 16-year-olds who have made the cut on the PGA TOUR in 2024. Kris Kim became the fifth-youngest player to make the cut in a TOUR event at THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson, and Blades Brown finished T26 at the following week’s Myrtle Beach Classic.