SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. (AP) — Miles Russell is certainly not the youngest player to compete in the U.S. Open. He's not even the only 17-year-old in the field at Shinnecock Hills — Giuseppe Puebla also made it through a 36-hole qualifier at the same site. They are Nos. 1 and 2 in the American junior ranking.
But there is a lot more hype when it comes to Russell. Along with being top-ranked in the American Junior Golf Association, he is No. 7 among all amateurs
in the world.
This is his first U.S. Open.
“It's still another tournament,” Russell said Wednesday. “I’m going to treat it like if it was an AJGA, where 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 headed to Florida State, along with golf buddy Charlie Woods, the son of Tiger Woods. Charlie Woods caddied for Russell during the U.S. Open qualifier.
It's not an entirely new experience being around tour players. Russell tied for 50th in the Puerto Rico Open on the PGA Tour this year, and he made two of three cuts in the Korn Ferry Tour events he has played. The U.S. Open will be his sixth PGA Tour-sanctioned event.
What he has learned is how boring they can look. He meant that as a compliment.
"You watch them play and you’re, like, ‘Man, this guy plays pretty boring.’ And at the end of the round, you’re seeing the score and he shoots like 65. You’re like, ‘I did not see you shooting 65 out there.’ But it’s just so kind of ho-hum and a lot of fairway, greens. It’s nothing special.
“Then when they have those special rounds, they’ll go out and shoot 63, 62, and you say, ‘That was fun to watch,’ and you shake their hand at the end of the day.”
The USGA has given him a favorable tee time. Russell will play the opening two rounds with Padraig Harrington, a three-time major champion, and former British Open champion Cameron Smith.
The USGA said Wednesday it was increasing the purse by $1 million to $22.5 million, with the winner receiving $4.5 million.
That keeps it equal with the Masters, which also had a $22.5 million purse this year. Mike Whan, the CEO, said the increase was not a direct response to Augusta National. It was more pride.
“We believe we’re the best championship in the game, and we want a lot of aspects to be the best championship in the game — where we go, how we treat the players, how we pay out, how we’re televised, and we’re proud of the fact there’s more network hours on the U.S. Open than any other major championship,” he said.
“Some of that’s just personal pride,” he said. “We want to be big. We want to be the best. We want to make sure it’s life-changing in multiple ways. We also are not in a race. We're not chasing.”
No other major offers more prize money than the U.S. Open or Masters. The largest purse among regular tournaments is $25 million at The Players Championship.
The last time the U.S. Open was at Shinnecock Hills in 2018, Brooks Koepka won $2,160,000 from a $12 million purse. The runner-up will get more this year.
The prize fund for the first U.S. Open at Shinnecock? That was $335, and James Foulis won $150.
A phrase often heard in the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines and Pebble Beach is “marine layer,” what most people refer to as fog. The buzz word for Shinnecock Hills? That would be “syringe.”
It's a strange choice of words for watering the greens, but that's key at Shinnecock because the greens tend to dry quickly on putting surfaces exposed to the wind.
And yes, the greens will be “syringed” this week.
John Bodenhamer, the chief competitions officer for the USGA, said the first time tee times Thursday and Friday has been moved up 10 minutes to allow the greens to be doused between the morning and afternoon waves.
“It involves a very light application of water to hydrate the grass leaf blade to prevent wilt, most importantly, to preserve turf health, and to reduce stress on these poa annua greens,” Bodenhamer said. “Poa annua reacts differently and more quickly than most other grasses in these types of conditions, so we think syringing is very important.”
He said that will allow for more consistent conditions.
Syringing greens at Shinnecock was most memorable in 2004, when shots to the par-3 seventh hole would not hold the greens. Early in the final round, USGA officials began lightly spraying the greens between groups.
As for the weekend, when there is no break in the tee times, it gets trickier.
“We’ve given a lot of consideration into hydrating it closer to play,” Bodenhamer said. "So where that first group is, we will hydrate closer to that first group than we have in the past so we can get through the day a little bit longer.
“I also think the syringing that we’ll do Thursday and Friday will keep the leaf blade healthier longer going into the weekend on Saturday for those high winds.”
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