Miles Russell said Friday that Ramon Bescansa will caddie for him at the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills, a decision that came after Charlie Woods carried Russell’s bag through final qualifying at BallenIsles Country Club in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
Woods walked the round that sent Russell into the championship, and Russell was full of praise for what his peer provided. "He was great. We just walked and talked and laughed," Russell said of Woods’s role in final qualifying, adding, "He helped me the most by staying calm and just taking my mind off what was going on."
Still, when asked who would be on his bag at Shinnecock, Russell named Bescansa, his swing coach: "Ramon's kind of been on my bag in all my big events, whether it was Rocket (Classic, his PGA Tour debut) or my first Korn Ferry (start). I think it's just a comfortability thing," he said. Ramon Bescansa has a history at Shinnecock Hills too; he caddied for Russell Knox at the 2018 U.S. Open there.
The switch is concrete and immediate: Charlie Woods will not carry Russell’s bag at the U.S. Open. It is a small logistical choice with outsized signaling for two of the sport’s top teenagers — Russell, the world’s top-ranked junior and No. 10 amateur who is 17 and a two-time American Junior Golf Association Rolex Junior Player of the Year, and Woods, who did not convert his own local qualifying bid into a U.S. Open spot and instead secured a place in his third consecutive U.S. Junior Amateur.
That shared junior pedigree is part of the story. Both teenagers are committed to Florida State’s 2027 recruiting class and share the same agent, Allen Hobbs of Players Group Management, so the image of one young player shuttling a friend through the gate of a major felt, for many, like a natural fit. Russell made clear the choice to replace Woods for the championship was not personal. "If you have someone on the bag that you don't want to spend the day with, it's just going to make it that much harder, so, to have him and make it enjoyable and every once in a while talk me out of something dumb, but, it was a good day," Russell said of Woods’s help at BallenIsles.
The tension lies in that contrast: Woods was the steady presence who helped Russell qualify, yet Russell opted for Bescansa’s familiarity and track record for the major itself. Russell framed the decision around comfort and experience rather than a judgment on Woods’s work. He also joked about the small reward due to his friend: "I have to pay him something, that's for sure."
There are practical threads beneath the headlines. Bescansa has accompanied Russell at marquee stops — the Rocket Classic and his first Korn Ferry start — and his previous work caddying at Shinnecock for Knox in 2018 gives him course-specific experience that likely mattered in Russell’s calculus. For a 17-year-old making the leap into a U.S. Open field, the combination of technical familiarity and the quiet of a trusted coach can outweigh the camaraderie of a peer who helped on a qualifying day.
What remains unanswered is whether Woods will have any other role at Shinnecock — a spot on the ropes, as a spectator, or in another support capacity — now that he did not advance through local qualifying himself. For now the next public milestone is clear: Russell will play the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills this summer with Ramon Bescansa on the bag, while Charlie Woods heads into another summer of junior championships and his third straight U.S. Junior Amateur.
