Miles Russell enters the 2026 U.S. Open as the youngest player in the field at 17, and he will make his first start in a major championship at Shinnecock Hills. The Florida State commit got there by surviving final-stage qualifying and now brings a rare teenage presence to golf's biggest stage.
Russell at Shinnecock Hills
Russell said he does not really remember watching any U.S. Opens when he was little. “Maybe bits and pieces, but that's probably more from seeing highlights from it. I don't know. I don't really remember watching any U.S. Opens when I was that little,” he said at a press conference on Wednesday ahead of the 2026 U.S. Open.
His earliest memory from watching golf goes back to Jordan Spieth at the 2015 Masters. “I think my first kind of golf memory from watching it was maybe Spieth in 2015 at the Masters. I think really remembering it was Tiger in 2019,” Russell said.
Final-stage qualifying
He earned his place through a three-man playoff for two spots in the final stage of qualifying. That finish put him into a field where age is the headline: the No. 1 junior player in the world is also the youngest player in the tournament.
Charlie Woods caddied for Russell during that qualifying event, and both have committed to play college golf at Florida State. Russell’s path has already included a notable marker in 2024, when he became the youngest player in Korn Ferry Tour history to make the cut in a tournament and finished T-20.
Russell and Tiger Woods
The broader picture is simple. Russell is not arriving as a curiosity; he is arriving after qualifying under pressure, with a record of handling older fields and a recent T-20 on the Korn Ferry Tour. For a player born in 2008, the step from junior golf to Shinnecock Hills is the size of the story.
Thursday’s opening round will put that step on the course, with a 17-year-old in a major field that now has to deal with him as much as he gets used to it.
