Miles Russell achieved something Thursday no other person in the history of golf has.
Russell became the first player to win medalist honors at the U.S. Junior Amateur and the Western Amateur in the same year. Russell, the 17-year-old phenom who finished runner-up last week at Saucon Valley, will be the No. 1 seed at the Western Amateur, one of the biggest amateur events in the world, at Beverly Country Club in Illinois. Match play gets underway Friday, and the tournament concludes Saturday afternoon.
Only four other players have accomplished the feat at all, but none in the same year. Sam Horsfield (US 2014, W 2016), Doug Martin (US 1984, W 1989), Willie Wood (US 1977-78, W 1981) and Bob Byman (US 1972, W 1976) now have company among players who
have accomplished the feat, but Russell stands above them all.
Russell shot 64-65 on Thursday during the 36-hole marathon, finishing at 21-under 263 after 72 holes of stroke play, topping Auburn rising senior Josiah Gilbert by a shot for medalist honors.
The Florida State commit, ranked fifth in the World Amateur Golf Ranking and top junior in the world, still has a year before he begins college. He will represent the U.S. in the Walker Cup later this summer at Lahinch in Ireland, one of four players to earn automatic selections to the U.S. squad.
Earlier this summer, he made the cut in his first major championship at the U.S. Open. Now he's going for one of the biggest titles in amateur golf.
Cameron Jourdan is an assistant editor of Golfweek, covering college and amateur golf, the PGA Tour and plenty more. Follow Cameron on X/Twitter (@Cam_Jourdan) or Instagram (@GolfweekJourdan).
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Miles Russell makes amateur golf history after earning medalist honors at Western Amateur
