Junior Players champion Miles Russell gets PGA Tour start in Napa

Russell gets a sponsor exemption to the first tournament on the PGA Tour FedEx Cup Fall schedule

Miles Russell of Jacksonville Beach will get another shot at playing in a PGA Tour event.

Russell, 16, will play in the Procore Championship at the Silverado Resort in Napa, Calif., beginning on Sept. 11. It’s the opening event of the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup Fall and it will be Russell’s first professional start in California.

Russell has had recent success in the state. He reached the quarterfinals of the U.S. Amateur last month at the Olympic Club in San Francisco.

Russell has played in three PGA Tour events, most recently at the ISCO Championship in Louisville, Ky., July 10-13. Russell shot 70-73—143 and missed the cut by one shot.

How did Miles Russell get into the Procore Championship?

It took a chain of events for him to get his spot at Napa.

Russell applied for a sponsor invitation earlier this year but wasn’t one of the eight players who initially received the invitations by the tournament sponsor.

But over the weekend, four players who qualified for the tournament withdrew: Norman Xiong, Aaron Baddeley, Kevin Yu and Bud Cauley. They were replaced by James Hahn, Austin Cook, Jonathan Byrd and Nick Watney. Hahn, Byrd and Watney were on the sponsor invitation list, and when they got into the field, a spot opened up for Russell.

Miles Russell is coming off Junior Players victory

Russell won his last start at one of the most iconic PGA Tour venues, the Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass. He won his second Junior Players Championship in three years, with a birdie at the 17th hole’s Island Green and a 20-foot putt for par at No. 18 to win by two shots.

Russell, the top-ranked junior player in the U.S., became the fourth player to win the tournament wire-to-wire.

How has Miles Russell fared in PGA Tour events?

• 2025 ISCO Championship: 70-73—143, missed cut by one shot
• 2024 Butterfield Bermuda Championship: 73-74—147, missed cut by seven shots
• 2024 Rocket Mortgage Classic: 74-70—144, missed cut by three shots

How has Miles Russell fared in Korn Ferry Tour events?

• 2025 Tulum Championship: 77-72—149, missed cut by two shots
• 2025 LECOM Suncoast Open: 70-68—138, missed cut by one shot
• 2024 Veritex Bank Championship: 68-70—138, missed cut by two shots
• 2024 LECOM Suncoast Open: 68-66-70-66—270, finished tied for 20th.

Miles Russell’s next stop: Junior Ryder Cup

After the Procore Championship, Russell won’t get much of a break before he travels to the other side of the country.

Russell is a member of the U.S. Junior Ryder Cup team. They will face Europe on Sept. 23-25 at Bethpage State Park and the Nassau Country Club on Long Island, N.Y.

Russell is playing in the Junior Ryder Cup for the second time. He went 1-3 in 2023 when Europe won 20.5-9.5 at the Marco Simone Golf Course in Rome.

Also on the team is Tyler Mawhinney of Fleming Island.