“The tweet from Phil Mickelson was pretty cool” - 15-yo Miles Russell recalls the feeling of getting a shout-out from his childhood hero
Miles Russell stunned the world by becoming the youngest player to ever make the cut in a Korn Ferry Tour event, and it got everyone, including Phil Mickelson, talking. The 15-year-old did extremely well at the LECOM Suncoast Classic and Mickelson shouted him out on his X (formerly Twitter) account.
On April 20, Mickelson praised the young golfer, and that's something Russell remembers fondly. Speaking on GOLF'S Subpar, Russell said,
"The tweet from Phil (Mickelson) was pretty cool. I had a buddy, we're driving home from dinner and he said did you see Phil gave you a tweet or a shout out. I'm like what are you talking about and he's like yeah look. And I think that was that was probably one of the cooler kind of messages I got," he revealed (15:38-15:55).
Mickelson's praise couldn't have been more appropriate. As a left-handed golfer, Russell said Mickelson was one player he tried to emulate parts of the game for:
"I don't know. I like them all. I try to copy different parts from all their games and he (Phil) was definitely one when I was little, I was three and lefty. I want to be like him and he was definitely one of the guys I looked up to for a long time," he said (16:07- 16:23).
There haven't been many left-handed pro golfers. In fact, not very many have ever won on the PGA Tour. According to a report from Golfweek, only the following left-handed golfers have won on the PGA Tour:
- Phil Mickelson
- Bubba Watson
- Mike Weir
- Bob Charles
- Steve Flesch
- Brian Harman
- Ted Potter Jr.
- Russ Cochran
- Ernie Gonzalez
- Sam Adams
- Greg Chalmers
- Eric Axley
- Cody Gribble
- Garrick Higgo
- Akshay Bhatia
Mickelson is of course the most accomplished with 45 wins on tour and a handful of majors. He's now on LIV Golf, but he's one of the most storied left-handed athletes.
Russell will one day try to become the next entry on this list by winning a PGA Tour event. He still has a few years to go before he can even consider turning pro, but he's on an early path to stardom and perhaps notoriety because of his left-handedness.
What did Phil Mickelson say about Miles Russell?
Miles Russell entered the Suncoast Classic attempting to make history by only making the cut, which he did. Then, he went on to play really well. He didn't win, but he did shoot 14 under and tied for 20th overall.
That caught Phil Mickelson's attention, who remarked, on his X (formerly Twitter) account:
"Miles Russell, a 15-year-old left-handed golfer made the cut in this week’s Korn Ferry event. This is an amazing accomplishment. It’s great to see a young lefty playing such incredible golf."
Several others also praised the golfer. Russell would follow up that by playing in the Veritex Bank Championship. He missed the cut but was still four under par through two rounds.