Miles Russell joins Hall of Famers Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson in earning top AJGA honor

Miles Russell keeps racking up the honors at a young age.

Russell, a 14-year-old Jacksonville Beach resident, was named the American Junior Golf Association's boys player of the year on Thursday, the youngest in the history of the nation's top junior golf organization.

Russell is the first male junior golfer from the First Coast to win the award since David Duval in 1989, a span of 34 years. Kaitlyn Schroeder of Jacksonville, now an Alabama sophomore, was the AJGA girls player of the year in 2022.

First, from the First Coast: Miles Russell closes out historic Junior Players victory

In addition to Duval, the 1999 Players champion and the 2001 British Open champion, Russell joins other past AJGA players of the year Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Jordan Spieth, Scottie Scheffler, Brian Harman, Sam Burns, Hunter Mahan, Charles Howell III and Peter Uihlein.

Here's the kind of company Russell is now keeping: Of the 41 junior golfers who have combined to win the 48 AJGA players of the year awards since it began in 1978, 13 are PGA Tour winners, six have won major championships and four have won The Players.

Miles Russell won half of his AJGA starts

Russell had eight AJGA-sanctioned starts in 2023 and won four, capped by his victory in the Junior Players Championship on Labor Day weekend at the Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass — where he was the youngest winner in the 17-year history of the tournament and the first area resident to hoist the trophy.

Russell won the Junior PGA by seven shots in Hot Springs, Ark., and added victories in the Moon Golf All-Star and the Taylor Made TP5 Junior All-Star.

He finished among the top 10 in all but one of his AJGA starts. He also won four of nine starts on the Florida Junior Tour, giving him eight victories in 17 events.

Miles Russell had 15 rounds in the 60s

Russell, a left-hander who relies on accuracy, a deft short game and a sure putting stroke, posted 15 of 25 rounds in the 60s in AJGA events (60 percent) and had a scoring average of 69.04. He had rounds of 70-66-71 to win the Junior Players, had two tournaments in which he shot in the 60s in every round and had a season-low of 63 in the second round of the Moon Golf All-Star at the Duran Golf Club in Viera.

He finished the season first on the AJGA Polo Rankings.

Russell will be honored along with other members of the AJGA Rolex Junior All-American team at the Rolex Tournament of Champions Nov. 18-22 at the TPC San Antonio. Phillip Dunham of Ponte Vedra Beach, who was the runner-up to Russell at the Junior Players, joined him on the first team and Tyler Mahwinney of Fleming Island was honorable mention.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Miles Russell in select company in winning AJGA player of the year award