GOLF
Who are the youngest ever players on the PGA Tour?
15-year-old Miles Russell makes his tour debut at the Rocket Mortgage Classic 2024 at Detroit Golf Club.
There’s no Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy or Tiger Woods at the Rocket Mortgage Classic 2024 at Detroit Golf Club in Michigan this week, which means 15-year-old PGA Tour debutant Miles Russell will get plenty of the spotlight.
Russell isn’t the first teenager to make his first appearance on tour this year, following in the footsteps of Kris Kim and Blades Brown earlier in the season. He is, however, the youngest, with those two old timers by comparison at the age of 16.
“I am thankful to Rocket Mortgage for giving me the opportunity to make my PGA TOUR debut at the Rocket Mortgage Classic,” the youngster said in a statement. “Ever since I first started playing golf, 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.”
In 2023, Russell won the Junior PGA Championship and the Junior Players Championship, and was named the American Junior Golf Association Player of the Year, achieving that feat at a younger age than Tiger Woods.
Is Miles Russell the youngest player to play on the PGA Tour?
But despite his tender years, Russell, born on 1 November 2008, is not the youngest player to ever play in a PGA Tour event.
Lorens Chan, at the 2009 Sony Open in Hawaii, and Andy Zhang, in the 2012 US Open, both played for the first time before turning 15.
In 2013, Chinese golfer Guan Tianlang appeared in the 2013 Masters at Augusta as an amateur at the age of 14 years and 5 months, making him the youngest player to make a cut on the PGA Tour and in a major championship.
The youngest ever PGA Tour golfer
That came more than nine years after women’s golfing prodigy Michelle Wie (West) crossed over to the men’s tour at the 2004 Sony Open, also in Hawaii.
She became the fourth woman ever to play in a PGA Tour event, doing so at the age of 14 years and 3 months, which officially makes her the youngest PGA Tour player ever, according to the organisation itself.
The brilliantly named Don Dunkelberger is reported to have taken part in the 1937 Chicago Open at the age of 11 years and 11 months, although his appearance in the tournament, from which he withdrew after the first round, doesn’t appear to be formally recognised by the PGA Tour.