Miles Russell is playing in his 13th professional tournament as an amateur this week, and it’s by far his biggest one: the 126th U.S. Open, which begins at the Shinnecock Golf Club in Southampton, N.Y., on June 18.
The 17-year-old Jacksonville Beach native, the youngest from the First Coast to play in a men’s major championship, has been around the world’s best players all week and has had a chance to observe how they practice and prepare for a major championship.
And his one takeaway was a bit surprising: Boring golf is good golf. And Russell wants to play boring golf.
“It’s how boring they play,” when asked at a USGA news conference on June 17 at Shinnecock Hills what he is picking up from players such as Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm. “You watch them, and this guy plays pretty boring.”
“Then in the round you’re signing [his competitor’s scorecard], and he shoots 65. You’re like, ‘Oh, I did not see you shooting 65 out there.’ But it’s just so ho-hum … just a lot of fairways and greens and just nothing special. When they have special rounds, they’ll go out and shoot 63, 62, and you say, ‘that was fun to watch.'”
Russell has played enough practice rounds at Shinnecock to know that boring golf will work at the rugged Long Island track, located between the Atlantic Ocean and the Great Peconic Bay and susceptible to strong ocean breezes. Sloping greens and high rough contribute to a test that left the entire field without a player shooting under par the last time the Open was at Shinnecock in 2018, when Brooks Koepka won at 1-over 281.
“It’s links golf with a little bit of Pinehurst,” Russell said. “Those greens are tough. You have to hit the greens, and sometimes you don’t want to hit one if it means they’re going to be on the other side of the green, where you can have an easy chip. You definitely have to chip it and putt it well and hit some fairways.”
Miles Russell on USGA: ‘They do it right’
Russell also realizes that when things get exciting at a U.S. Open, it’s usually when players face their most difficult shots: downhill putts on fast greens or attempting shots from deep fescue grass.
Players will hit bad shots, and not every decision will work out. Some will blow up in their face.
It’s how they handle the adversity that goes into the entire package of contending at a U.S. Open.
“You can’t let those bad shots affect how the rest of the day goes,” Russell said. “Because it can make for a really long day.”
However, Russell is not in the camp that thinks the United States Golf Association sets up U.S. Open venues too difficult.
“The USGA, they do it right,” he said. “Whether it’s the course … the way the course plays or the experience as a player, it’s pretty special and [I’m] really lucky to be here and really excited.”
Miles Russell has to hold himself back
Russell and his family and golf team arrived at Shinnecock Hills last week, just three days after he qualified for the Open at a sectional at the BallenIsles Country Club in Palm Beach Gardens. Ever the golf junkie and range rat, Russell said he’s had to pace himself as the first round approaches to make sure he has gas in the tank for the competition.
“It’s going to be a long week … it’s going to be a good test and I think not overdoing it, even though you’re here at a major,” he said. “You’re really excited because this is what you work and dream for. So I think being able to hold back and nine holes a day. When your friend’s making the turn and you’re like, ‘I’d love to play another nine holes with him but you’ve just got to have a little self-control … lay back and maybe just not quite as many swings on the golf course. Do more walking around and looking than actually playing.”
Russell has had his share of magic moments during practice rounds. He’s played with PGA Tour winners Harris English and Bud Cauley, and caught up with Bryson DeChambeau, with whom Russell made a YouTube video.
Russell also looked up one day and found himself hitting balls next to Jordan Spieth.
“I looked up to him as a little guy and that was really cool,” Russell said. “It’s probably even cooler for my parents. My dad was standing behind me and it just hits them more than it hits me, I think, because they see their kid hitting balls next to somebody they looked up to.”
Miles Russell: ‘Still another tournament’
Once Russell tees off in the first round at 7:19 a.m. (playing with major champions Cameron Smith and Padraig Harrington}, he said he will try to focus on what’s inside the ropes rather than the hoopla and fans outside.
Russell has won more than 30 junior tournaments and reached the quarterfinals of a U.S. Amateur. He’s played in PGA Tour events in Detroit, Puerto Rico, Bermuda and Louisville, Ky. With that experience in the bank, he said he won’t try to make the actual process of playing in a U.S. Open any bigger.
“I don’t know if my mindset changes much,” he said. “It’s still another tournament. I’m trying to treat it like an AJGA [event]. Really, I’m just trying to come here and play good golf and see where my game lines up with some of the best players in the world.”
Russell is one of 20 amateurs in the field this week, the most since the same number played at Shinnecock Hills in 2018. Among the other amateurs is Giuseppe Puebla of Royal Palm Beach, the medalist in the Florida sectional and world No. 1-ranked amateur Jackson Koivun, who is just off from leading Auburn to a second national championship in three years.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Miles Russell embraces boring golf before US Open debut at Shinnecock
Reporting by Garry Smits, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Garry Smits, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union | USA TODAY Network
