Miles Russell wins two U.S. Amateur matches on dramatic birdie putts

Russell beats college veterans with putts at Nos. 17 and 18 at the Olympic Club

• 16-year-old Miles Russell of Jacksonville Beach advanced to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Amateur.
• Russell defeated Auburn sophomore Billy Davis and Pepperdine senior Mahanth Chirravuri.
• Russell will face Oklahoma State junior Eric Lee in the quarterfinals.

With two left-handed swings of his putter, 16-year-old Miles Russell of Jacksonville Beach closed out a pair of college golf veterans and advanced to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Amateur on Aug. 14, at the Olympic Club in San Francisco. 

Russell made a 15-foot birdie putt at the par-4 18^th hole to beat Auburn sophomore Billy Davis 1-up in a round of 32 match, then canned a swinging 25-footer at the par-5 17^th hole to beat Pepperdine senior Mahanth Chirravuri 2 and 1 in the round of 16. 

Russell will play Eric Lee, an Oklahoma State junior who won the clinching point in match play when the Cowboys captured the NCAA Championship in May, in the quarterfinals at 5:15 p.m. (EDT) on Aug. 15. 

Lee chipped in for a birdie at No. 17 to go 1-up against Josh Duangamanee, a University of Virginia senior, then won the 18^th hole when Duangamanee lost his tee shot in trees to the right and couldn’t find it in the allotted time, which is a loss of hole in match play. 

Lee beat Duangamanee in the NCAA Match Play finals. 

Miles Russell could play John Daly II in semifinals 

If Russell beats Lee he could play John Daly II in the semifinals on Aug. 16.

Daly, the son of two-time major champion John Daly and an Arkansas senior, beat Daniel Bennett of South Africa 3 and 2 and Nate Smith of Tentonia, Ark., 2 and 1 to reach the quarters. 

Daly will play Mason Howell, a 17-year-old from Thomasville, Ga., in the quarterfinals at 5 p.m., playing in the twosome ahead of Russell and Lee. Howell will enter the University of Georgia later this month. 

Miles Russell rallied, then got out of trouble at the 17^th 

Russell, the highest-seeded player from stroke play remaining (he was third, Lee is the next highest at 11th) trailed Chirravuri, the defending West Coast Conference champion, by two holes after three, and was still down two through six holes. 

“I didn’t get off to the best of starts,” he told usga.org. “Actually, I felt like through five, six holes, I should’ve been six down But I was only two down and I took that as a positive for the way I was playing.”

Russell caught fire beginning at No. 7 and won the next four holes on birdies, winning all of them to take a 2-up lead through 10 holes. Chirravuri cut the lead to one hole twice with birdies at the par-3 13^th and 15^th and the players both hit the fairway at the 17^th hole. 

Both missed the green to the right with their second shots but Russell was much further down the embankment than Chirravuri, and in deep rough. Russell did well to keep his ball on the green, and Chirravuri pitched up to within 12 feet. 

However, Russell dropped the putt, which had easily a half-dozen feet of break, and Chirravuri missed his birdie attempt to end the match. 

“Just glad I got the speed right,” Russell told the Golf Channel during a post-round interview. “Just happened to go in.” 

Miles Russell lost big lead to Billy Davis 

Russell also put himself in a tough position in his morning match, then used his putter to win. 

Facing Davis, who was on the All-SEC freshman team, Russell methodically built a 3-up lead through 14 holes. But Davis, Russell’s teammate on the 2023 U.S. Junior Ryder Cup team, stormed back to win Nos. 15 and 16 with birdies, then won the 17^th hole with a par to Russell’s bogey to square the match. 

However, Russell found the fairway and the green and knocked in his birdie putt to win. 

How to watch the U.S. Amateur on TV 

• Aug. 15: Quarterfinals, Peacock, 6-7 p.m.; Golf Channel, 7-9 p.m.  
• Aug. 16: Semifinals, Golf Channel, 3-6 p.m.  
• Aug. 17: Championship match, Golf Channel, 7-10 p.m.