Bermuda teenager Oliver Betschart may have some competition for the title of most precocious golf talent if he qualifies for the Butterfield Bermuda Championship this year.

Miles Russell, 15, has been making waves on the Korn Ferry Tour this year and is the first player to be granted a sponsor exemption for the tournament in November thanks to an agreement by which the reigning Amateur Junior Golf Association Rolex Junior Player of the Year will receive an exemption into the PGA TOUR event.

“I am honoured to be receiving an exemption into the 2024 Butterfield Bermuda Championship,” Russell said to the AJGA.

“I have dreamt of playing on the PGA Tour my entire life and to have that dream coming to fruition later this year is a feeling that I cannot describe. I am grateful to the tournament and the AJGA for their partnership that is allowing me this incredible opportunity.”

Patrick Cansfield, AJGA director of development, is delighted that Russell will get the chance to compete against seasoned professionals on the PGA Tour.

“The AJGA is excited to offer a PGA Tour exemption to our Rolex Player of the Year,” said Cansfield.

“We are proud to partner with the PGA Tour and Butterfield Bermuda Championship to help our juniors grow on and off the golf course.”

Russell has yet to make a start on the senior tour, but he thrived last week in his debut at a professional event, finishing tied for twentieth at the Korn Ferry Tour’s LECOM Suncoast Classic.

Russell carded rounds of 66-68-70-66 at Lakewood National Golf Club’s Commander course, not only becoming the youngest player to make a Korn Ferry Tour cut but also recording the first top-25 finish by a player under 16 on either the PGA Tour or Korn Ferry Tour since 1983. By finishing inside the top 25, he also earned a spot in this week’s Veritex Bank Championship.

Last year, he became the youngest AJGA Boys Junior Player of the Year, surpassing Tiger Woods’s longstanding record and joined 2009 AJGA Player of the Year Jordan Spieth and 2013 AJGA Player of the Year Scottie Scheffler in finishing top 25 in their tour-sanctioned debut. Spieth finished sixteenth at the Byron Nelson in 2010, while Scheffler finished 22nd at the same event in 2014.

Russell’s 2023 season included a seven-shot win at the Junior PGA Championship and a three-shot win at the Junior Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass. The native of Jacksonville Beach, Florida, is currently a high school freshman, attending online school.

This year’s Butterfield Bermuda Championship, part of the FedExCup Fall, is scheduled to take place on November 14 to 17 at Port Royal Golf Course in Southampton, Bermuda.