SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. — There are Father’s Day gifts that Dad will forget about by Monday, like socks and ties … and then there are Father’s Day gifts that will last a lifetime. Miles Russell, playing in his very first U.S. Open, just gave his dad one of those.
As 17-year-old Miles walked up the fairway at the 18th hole of the U.S. Open, he had a plan: walk to the final green with his father by his side. It was, after all, Joe Russell who introduced his son to the game of golf at the age of 2; who first noticed his son’s love of the game when he preferred watching the Golf Channel over Cartoon Network.
Miles had hatched the plan several days earlier on the advice of a friend, though there were a few conditions. First of all, obviously, he had to make the cut, which he managed by a stroke — no easy feat on a course that had claimed the tournament hopes of Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau and many others.
Then he needed to square his plan with the powers that be. The USGA’s Rule 10.3a mandates that a player have only one caddie at a time. They got the go ahead Sunday morning, so at 18, Miles’ regular caddie and instructor, Ramon Bescansa, walked over to Joe at the rope line and handed over the ceremonial bib and bag. And from there, it was a beautiful walk up to the Shinnecock clubhouse for father and son.
“It was just kind of a cool moment for both of us,” Russell told Yahoo Sports after his round, “and something we’ll definitely remember.”
After a round that left him at +7 for the tournament, Russell, who is off to Florida State this fall, signed autographs for nearly 20 minutes, autographing flags for kids only a few years younger than him. Joe, who declined to speak to the media, and the rest of Miles’ family stood a few feet away, smiling with pride and taking pic after pic of him as he worked through a line of admirers.
Still sweating from his round — an even-par 70 — Russell took a moment to reflect on the enormity of what he’d just done. “I don’t know how much harder a golf course can play,” he said. “I’m sure it can get a little tougher if we got firmer, but this is as hard as golf can get. So, to play pretty solid and shoot what I shot today, I’m pretty proud of that.”
Growing up, which wasn’t all that long ago for the 17-year-old, Miles and his father would hit balls together long into the night, practicing Miles’ favorite stroke, the flop shot. Joe, a 10-handicapper, passed on his love of the game to Miles, who’s now in turn taken those lessons to the biggest stage in golf … and, in a nice full-circle moment, brought his father along with him.
“Without him,” Russell said, “I probably wouldn’t be here, so I can’t thank him enough.”
Walking alongside him at a U.S. Open, though, will probably go a long way.
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