PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Florida - Miles Russell of Jacksonville Beach, Florida, wins the 17th edition of The Junior PLAYERS Championship presented by Rolex.
Russell, at just 14 years-old, becomes the youngest champion in event history with a tournament total of 9-under-par 207. At No. 2 in the Rolex AJGA Rankings, Russell wins his first Invitational in his Junior PLAYERS Championship debut with three rounds of 70-66-71. His second-round 66 was also the lowest round of the tournament.
Right now I'm at an all-time high. It can't get much better than this. I got a tour of the TOUR locker room when I was younger and to be able to be here as a player in the field and be around all of these high-level players is something I dreamed about but never knew it would happen this fast.
The youngest champion prior to Russell was set in 2016 by 16-year-old Khavish Varadan of (Malaysia) Wesley Chapel, Florida. Varadan won in a playoff with a score of 10-under-par 206 in the only year Junior PLAYERS was held at Sawgrass Country Club (due to renovations on TPC Sawgrass).
Russell was bogey-free on the back nine and closed his round with two birdies on Nos. 16 and 17 to seal a three-shot victory over Phillip Dunham of Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. In his third time around TPC Sawgrass - THE PLAYERS Stadium Course, Russell totaled five birdies in his final round to help secure his first Invitational victory and third AJGA win of the season.
The 2027 grad entered the field as the top-ranked player, despite being almost five years younger than the oldest competitors. Russell, who turns 15 on November 1, is also tied for the most AJGA wins this season, now with three. Russell won back-to-back Junior All-Star events in April before competing in his first Invitational, where he finished runner-up at the Team TaylorMade Invitational in May. The hometown favorite also won the Boy's Junior PGA Championship earlier this month.
This is way better than any other tournaments I've played in. This is awesome. There's so many good players and to be able to play in a field like this is a real test. I played in the Junior-Am here two years ago and knew I wanted to compete here when I was older some day. I tried to get in this event last year and it didn't work, but to be here now just two years later is an amazing accomplishment.
In second place, Dunham finished at 6-under-par 210 in his Junior PLAYERS debut. Dunham is No. 12 in the Rolex AJGA Rankings and had a final round score of 3-under-par 69, tying the low final round.
In third place, Will Hartman of Marvin, N.C., finished in third at 3-under-par 213. At No. 15 in the Rolex AJGA Rankings, Hartman was playing in his second Junior PLAYERS Championship and this is his best finish of the year.
Rounding out the top 10 are:
- 4: Tyler Watts (-2) of Huntsville, Alabama
- 5: Hugo Le Goff (-1) of Melun, France
- T6: Sterling Hurd (E) of Austin, Texas
- T6: Tyler Mawhinney (E) of Fleming Island, Florida
- 8: Lev Grinberg (+1) of Brasschaat, Belgium
- T9: Asher Whitaker (+2) of Wichita, Kansas
- T9: Jackson Byrd (+2) of Saint Simons Island, Georgia
Thanks to a longtime partnership between the PGA TOUR and the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA), 78 of the world's top-ranked male junior golfers, invited through the Rolex AJGA Rankings, competed in a 54-hole, stroke-play event mirroring THE PLAYERS Championship setup and hole locations.
The 17th annual Junior PLAYERS Championship showcased the best of the next generation of future college and professional stars. To date, 53 past players have graduated to play in the PGA TOUR's PLAYERS Championship. Justin Thomas became the first Junior PLAYERS Championship alumni to win the professional event in 2021. He competed as a junior in 2008 and 2009.
Scottie Scheffler was the second Junior PLAYERS competitor to win The PLAYERS in 2023 after competing three years in the event as a junior and being named the AJGA's 2013 Rolex Junior Player of the Year.
Representatives from a record-high 15 foreign countries are competing in one of the AJGA’s annual top fields, featuring seven of the top 10 boys in the Rolex AJGA Rankings.