THE MODERATOR: Please join me in welcoming first-time U.S. Open competitor Miles Russell. Miles, can you just talk a little bit about golf's longest day?
MILES RUSSELL: Yeah, it definitely lives up to its name. It's a really long day. You get there 6:45, 7:00, and you're not leaving until dark. It's a lot of golf shots, and you just have to stay patient because you're going to hit bad shots and you're going to hit good shots.
Really just you can't let those bad shots affect how the rest of the day goes because it can make for a really long day.
THE MODERATOR: Your first U.S. Open, but not your first USGA experience. What has your USGA Championship experience taught you about what you might expect this week?
MILES RUSSELL: USGA, they do it right. Whether it's the course -- just the way the course plays or just the experience as a player. It's pretty special and just really lucky to be here and really excited.
THE MODERATOR: Before we get to the golf course, have you picked anyone's brain this week? Have you had any run-ins just to sort of gain some knowledge and information about your first U.S. Open start?
MILES RUSSELL: Kind of a little bit. My coach caddied here in 2018, so he's pretty familiar with the way it played. Hopefully it doesn't quite play like that, but I think they'll do a good job this year.
He's kind of been my source and my experience. He'll help me and just kind of guide me around this place.
THE MODERATOR: What are your first reactions to Shinnecock, the golf course?
MILES RUSSELL: It's good. It's linksy with a little bit of Pinehurst. Those greens are tough. You have to hit the greens. Sometimes you don't want to hit the greens if it means you're going to be on the other side of the green where you can just have an easy chip from maybe short-sided. You definitely have to chip and putt it well and hit some fairways.
Q. As you have developed your game, you're obviously a top-ranked junior around the world and whatnot, expectations come with this and whatnot. How have you adjusted your mindset to being able to play in events like this, and how are you adjusting to the fact that you can get into an event like this and you can play and hopefully do well?
MILES RUSSELL: I don't know if my mindset changes much. It's still another tournament. I'm going to treat it like if it was an AJGA, where I'm just trying to come here and play good golf and see where my game lines up with some of the best players in the world.
Q. Coming into this year, was there something specific about your game that you were looking at to try to develop or work on to improve for the whole season?
MILES RUSSELL: All of it (smiling). I feel like I could do everything a little bit better, but I think maybe my putting. Just keep it a little bit more consistent because my good weeks are really good, and when I don't putt so well, it's just there's too big of a gap there.
So maybe if I could have my bad weeks putting be better than what they've been and just try to keep everything pretty consistent.
Q. When you play professional events, what are you picking up from the other competitors that you think you're able to bank for yourself as you develop your game?
MILES RUSSELL: I think, I mean how boring they play. You watch them play and you're, like, man, this guy plays pretty boring, and at the end of the round, you're seeing the score and he shoots like 65. You're like I did not see you shooting 65 out there, but it's just so kind of ho-hum and a lot of fairway greens. It's nothing special.
Then when they have those special rounds, they'll go out and shoot 63, 62, and you say, that was fun to watch, and you shake their hand at the end of the day. I mean, it's just I think that's probably the biggest thing I've kind of learned from watching.
Q. Miles, you're obviously pretty young. Do you remember the 2018 U.S. Open? Did you watch it? What's your first memory of watching a U.S. Open?
MILES RUSSELL: Maybe bits and pieces, but that's probably more from seeing highlights from it. I don't know. I don't really remember watching any U.S. Opens when I was that little.
I think my first kind of golf memory from watching it was maybe Spieth in 2015 at the Masters. I think really remembering it was Tiger in 2019.
Q. First major championship. When you were talking to people about how you're supposed to prepare for a major, what did you learn? Some guys talk about not wanting to practice too much, but being excited when you're young. What have you learned about how to prepare for a major championship and conserve your energy?
MILES RUSSELL: Yeah, it's going to be a long week. I mean, it's going to be a good test. I think not overdoing it in the first few days even though you're here at a major and you're really excited because this is what you worked for and dreamed for.
So I think just being able to hold back and play nine holes a day, and even when your friends may return and you're, like, oh, how cool would it be to play with him at home, and I would want to play another nine holes with him. You have to have a little self-control and kind of lay back and not make quite as many swings on the golf course and kind of just do a lot more walking around and looking than actually, like, playing.
Q. I know that you were a stand-out on the AJGA. I was there in 2024 at the TaylorMade Invitational. How have you grown and adapted as a player throughout your time and all the accolades that you have earned, and now you're here, and how have you grown and seen yourself become better?
MILES RUSSELL: I think I've just gotten bigger. I've grown, so back then I wasn't hitting it quite as far as I do now. That definitely helps.
I think just playing in events like these and playing at that next level definitely helps you kind of just grow, and you just learn a lot.
Q. Then I know that you said that you've mostly been talking to your coach, but you played with Bryson in a YouTube video with him. Can you describe your relationship with him? Have you talked to him at all out here?
MILES RUSSELL: He's great. I was walking down the range the other day, and he was hitting balls. He stopped what he was doing, came over and said hi and just chatted for a minute. It was pretty cool.
Q. Obviously he's won two U.S. Opens. Did you pick his brain at all or ask how to get it done?
MILES RUSSELL: Not really (laughing). I'm not sure he wants to give all that out.
Q. Miles, I'm just curious, obviously you've played a couple of pro events and you've gotten to be around some of these guys, but what is it like being around these golfers that you grew up watching and Bryson coming over and shaking your hand or seeing Rory? Do you try and pick up little things when you see them kind of in the backstage areas when they're on the driving range or even when they're in the gym working out?
MILES RUSSELL: Yeah, a little bit. I mean, I'm trying to focus on me and do my thing on the putting green or range or wherever it is. Every once in a while you have to take a second and realize who you are hitting balls next to.
That's really cool. I was hitting balls next to Jordan Spieth the other day. I looked up to him as a little guy. That's just really cool.
I think it's probably even cooler for my parents. I think my dad was standing behind me. I think it kind of hits them more than it hits me, just because they see their kid hitting balls next to somebody they looked up to when they were little.
Q. What is it about golf that you like?
MILES RUSSELL: I think that it's an individual sport, and it's all on me. I don't have to rely on somebody else to do something or work hard. It's either -- I mean, I got a little bit of a team around me, but I'm not relying on somebody else to do something, that side of it.
Then it's just the peaceful side. It's not too peaceful out here this week just because there's people and there's a lot of noise, but just when I get to go out and play nine holes by myself, and that's kind of my favorite thing about the game.
Q. Is there a moment when you were young that you started playing, and it kind of hit you, like, hey, this is what I want to do?
MILES RUSSELL: Not really. I mean, it's always been a game. I've never really thought about it as something, like, kind of like a livelihood. It's just something I've always wanted to do.
I mean, still it hasn't really hit me like, man, this is what I want to do when I'm older. I just love playing the game. It's a good challenge, and I like a good challenge.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports