Miles Russell, Giuseppe Puebla and Jackson Ormond headline a youth movement after surviving U.S. Open final qualifying chaos.
Miles Russell just turned U.S. Open qualifying into must-watch theater.
On Golf’s Longest Day, the No. 1 junior golfer in the world punched his ticket to the 2026 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, surviving 36 holes, a playoff and the kind of emotional whiplash that makes final qualifying one of the best days in golf.
And yes, Charlie Woods was right there on the bag.
Russell, a 2027 Florida State commit, earned his spot out of the BallenIsles Country Club qualifier in Palm Beach Gardens after shooting 6-under across two rounds.
That score doesn’t fully capture how wild the ride was. He made both a triple bogey and a double bogey, still fought his way into a playoff, then buried a birdie on the second extra hole to beat Tyler Collet.
Russell now heads to Long Island for the 126th U.S. Open, where Shinnecock Hills will bring its usual brand of punishment.
The course doesn’t care about hype, age, rankings or recruiting status. It exposes everything. But Russell just showed he’s not afraid of chaos.
He also wasn’t the only teenager crashing the party.
Giuseppe Puebla, ranked No. 2 by the AJGA, also advanced through BallenIsles. Jackson Ormond, a New York native, grabbed his U.S. Open spot through the Gaston Country Club qualifier in North Carolina.
Puebla and Ormond are both committed to Florida, which means the next wave of college golf drama is already brewing before these guys even hit campus.
Russell and Woods are headed to Florida State. Puebla and Ormond are headed to Florida. The rivalry is going to have some real heat.
That youth movement was the loudest storyline from Monday, but it wasn’t the only one.
Final qualifying also opened the door for several veterans to earn another major championship start. J.B. Holmes, Billy Horschel, Keith Mitchell and Graeme McDowell all made it through, giving the U.S. Open field a mix of rising stars, proven tour names and players still chasing one more big moment.
That’s what makes Golf’s Longest Day so good.
It doesn’t care about your resume. You can be a top junior, a college star, a PGA TOUR winner, a former major champion or a grinder trying to catch fire for 36 holes. Everybody has to post a number.
This year, more than 10,000 players signed up to chase a U.S. Open dream.
Only 62 made it through final qualifying and into the field at Shinnecock.
Those qualifiers join 85 players who already had exemptions, creating a 2026 U.S. Open field that has serious star power and a few dangerous underdog stories.
The exempt list is stacked, as expected.
Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Jon Rahm, Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth, Viktor Hovland and Hideki Matsuyama are all in.
So are names like Ludvig Åberg, Patrick Cantlay, Dustin Johnson, Cameron Smith, Rickie Fowler and defending-level contenders who know exactly how brutal a U.S. Open setup can get.
But final qualifying always adds a different flavor.
Tom Kim, Chris Kirk, Max Greyserman, Andrew Putnam, Caleb Surratt, Neal Shipley, Peter Uihlein, Davis Thompson and Billy Horschel were among the qualifiers who muscled their way into the championship.
Amateur qualifiers including Russell, Puebla, Ormond, Ben James, Jackson Van Paris, Ryder Cowan and others add even more intrigue.
The field isn’t completely locked yet, either. More spots can still be earned through the RBC Canadian Open and the top 60 in the world rankings as of June 15.
Still, Monday gave this U.S. Open its first real jolt.
Russell’s playoff birdie with Woods on the bag will be the clip everyone remembers. A top junior taking punches, recovering, and walking out with a U.S. Open berth is exactly the kind of story this championship loves to produce.
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Now comes the hard part. Shinnecock won’t be friendly. It won’t be forgiving. And it definitely won’t care that Russell is one of the brightest young names in amateur golf.
But after what he survived Monday, he’s already proven something important. He belongs in the fight.
