Sixteen-year-old Miles Russell carded an even-par 70 in the opening round of the ISCO Championship on Thursday, a solid performance in his third PGA Tour start that was tempered by a difficult finish at Hurstbourne Country Club in Louisville, Kentucky.
The Jacksonville Beach amateur was 2-under par with four holes left to play but bogeyed his final two holes to slip back to even par. His round included four birdies and four bogeys, leaving him tied for 46th place upon completion of his round, nine strokes behind leader Chan Kim.
Russell struggled from the sand, successfully getting up and down for par only once in four attempts from greenside bunkers. However, his day included several highlights, most notably on the par-4 fifth hole, where his approach shot stopped just 16 inches from the cup for a tap-in birdie.
The late stumbles began on the short par-4 eighth hole. After pulling his tee shot into the rough and finding a poor lie, his recovery shot advanced only 40 yards, leading to a bogey. He then three-putted from 30 feet on the par-3 ninth for his second consecutive bogey.
“Our plan [on No. 8] was just to hit a 4-iron, wedge and make an easy par,” Russell said. “I didn’t hit a very good 4-iron… just kind of shoved it over there to the left, had a terrible lie.”
For the round, Russell hit 7 of 14 fairways and 12 of 18 greens, needing 30 putts. He remains focused on a key goal for his developing career.
“I haven’t played on the weekend in a Tour event. That would be pretty special,” he said. “Just got to focus on Friday, control what I can control, enjoy it, embrace it.”
Russell will begin his second round on Friday at 1:49 p.m.
Source link
