SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. — What you get your dad for Father’s Day?
Socks? A tie? Six-pack of his favorite IPA? Miles Russell did you one better. On Sunday, the kid wonder from Jacksonville, Fla., pulled his father, Joe, under the ropes at the U.S. Open here at Shinnecock Hills and gave him a gift he’ll never forget.
Miles, who is 17, is playing in his first U.S. Open, although it feels more like his 10th. That’s because the rising freshman at Florida State, where he’ll play alongside Tiger Woods’s son, Charlie, already has been all over the professional game, having made five starts (and four cuts) on the PGA Tour and seven on the Korn Ferry, where he finished 15th in Savannah, Ga., earlier this year.
In windy conditions in the first two rounds, Miles was unflappable, carding rounds of 72-71 to make the cut by one. In the third round, he shot 74, but saved his best for last: a three-birdie even-par 70 on Sunday that kept him at seven over the week, good for a top-40 finish. But forget those birdies — Miles’s par at the last will be his most memorable score of the day, because of who was at his side: his dad.
About midway down the 18th fairway, Miles’s caddie-swing coach, Ramon Bescana, veered off toward the right rope line, from where Joe was watching his son and oblivious as to what was coming next: Bescana shed his caddie vest and told Joe, “I’m done.”
Translation: You’re in, pops.
Moments later, Joe had ducked under the rope and was pacing through the fescue toward the fairway, with his son’s beefy tour bag slung over his right shoulder. When Joe caught caught up to Miles, they were all business. Miles reached for a towel dangling from the bag and wiped some debris from his iron. Father and son looked they’d been caddie and player for years.
Miles, who had cleared his caddie swap with USGA officials on Sunday morning, told GOLF.com the idea was inspired by his tour-pro golf-buddy pal Steve Wheatcroft, who also hails from Jacksonville. At the 2010 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, Wheatcroft had pulled his father under the ropes to loop a hole for him. Cool gesture, Miles thought, and on blue-bird Sunday at Shinnecock, he put his own Father’s Day gift into motion.
When Miles and Joe arrived on the green, Miles had a 38-footer for birdie. Joe, who said he shoots in the high 70s/low 80s, offered his green-reading services, but his son politely declined. Miles two-putted, which later prompted him to jokingly say of his father’s read offer, “I probably should have taken one.”
Joe introduced Miles to the game when he was only 2 years old. In their 15 years since, their list of golfing highlights together is long and glittery. Where did this 72nd hole rank?
“I don’t know if it’s sunk in yet,” Miles said, “but it was pretty special.”
