Miles Russell has settled his U.S. Open bag, and Charlie Woods will not be on it. Russell said Friday that his swing coach, Ramon Bescansa, will caddie for him later this summer at Shinnecock Hills, closing the door on the idea that Woods might carry the bag after helping him in final qualifying.

The decision matters because Russell is not just any qualifier. The 17-year-old is the world’s top-ranked junior and No. 10 amateur, and the U.S. Open will be one of the biggest stages of his young career. He made the announcement on a call with local media, giving his coach the job for a championship that will demand judgment as much as shotmaking.

Russell has leaned on Bescansa before. He said Bescansa has been on his bag in his biggest events, including his PGA Tour debut at the Rocket Classic and his first Korn Ferry start, and he described that experience as mostly about comfort. Russell also noted that Bescansa caddied for Russell Knox when the national championship was last at Shinnecock Hills in 2018, a detail that gives the pairing some built-in familiarity with the venue.

Woods, meanwhile, was part of the story at BallenIsles Country Club in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, where he caddied for Russell in U.S. Open final qualifying. He helped Russell through a stressful day and offered a familiar voice on the bag, but the arrangement did not carry over to the major itself. Woods, who recently secured a spot in his third straight U.S. Junior Amateur, fell short in his own local qualifying attempt.

That split says as much about both players’ paths as the caddie choice does. Woods and Russell are both committed to Florida State’s 2027 recruiting class and share representation under agent Allen Hobbs of Players Group Management, but Russell needed the steadier hand he has used before at the highest level. He said Bescansa helped him stay calm, talk through decisions and avoid the kind of mistakes that can tilt a major championship in the wrong direction.

Russell joked that he still owes his coach. At Shinnecock Hills, though, the work belongs to Bescansa, not Charlie Woods. For Russell, the important question is no longer who might caddie for him. It is whether the coach who has already walked those fairways can help a teenaged amateur turn a first U.S. Open start into something lasting.