DAILY PILOT HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETE OF THE WEEK:

There’s no question Travis Russell loves winning because he’s a competitor, because he wants to be the best. But chances are, he also likes to do it just to make life difficult for everyone else behind him on the leaderboard.

After all, this is the kid who gets a kick out of jamming his coach’s golf clubs — even his woods — in his bag the wrong way, then dumping his balls in between the liner and the hard case to top it off.

Don’t feel too bad for Newport Harbor golf coach Scott Tarnow. He gives as good as he gets.

Call it cheeky, call it charmingly bratty. Russell is the kid Judd Apatow films — think “Superbad” — were made for.

Anyone who’s tried to call Russell has had the experience.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Travis?”

“Hello?”

“Can you hear me? It’s [insert bewildered caller’s name here].”

“Yeah.”

This goes on for a few more seconds, and then: Beeeeeep.

And now you’re supposed to leave a message at the tone.

A reminder: Russell is a sophomore at Newport Harbor. He is 15 years old. He didn’t skip any grades.

“I can’t wait for a college or somebody to call me and they get that, and they’re like, ‘Wow this kid’s like, 12 years old,” Russell said. “I can’t wait for that.”

Russell’s counting on his golf game — and his grades — to speak louder than his voicemail. Considering the way he’s playing now, Tarnow said, it should.

“He got better really fast,” Tarnow said. “He had never beat me, ever, until the beginning of March and he’s almost a completely different player. It’s amazing the progress he’s made in such a short period of time. I’ve never seen it before.”

Russell, with Chase Behr, has been leading the Sailors’ golf team for most of the season, right into a Sunset League title.

He was the co-medalist with Steve Stoneman last week when the Sailors defeated los Alamitos at El Dorado Golf Course for the league title. He’s currently second on the school’s best nine-hole average list, and he’s only a few tenths of a point off the top spot. Behr is right behind Russell in third. The averages only go back to 2000, when Tarnow arrived and started recording them.

But Russell won’t be happy until he’s first, until he’s playing golf for a Division I college or university, until he’s chatting it up with Brandt Snedeker — currently his favorite player — on the PGA Tour. Right now his top choices are Florida and Arizona State.

If he makes it, when he’s old enough, will he come back to play the Toshiba Classic if it’s still at Newport Beach Country Club?

“Hopefully,” Russell said. “I’ve got a lot of years to go. Everyone wants to make it to the top level. I think I have a chance to make it there. College is definitely going to come first and then once I get there, once you get into a good college, a lot more things will open up.”

There’s nothing shy about Russell or his ambitions. His love for golf isn’t cloaked in a desire to go to college, find a major he likes, and then play on the weekends when he has time.

He’s gunning for Tour status.

“I don’t want to think I’m not going to make it,” Russell said. “When you play golf you have to practice an outrageous amount to be number one. When you start thinking, ‘I’m not going to make it at golf, I’m not going to be No. 1,’ there’s no point in going out and playing.”

Huzzah.

Well, Russell said, “It’s still fun to go out and play, but if you practice a lot, you don’t want to come in second place anymore. You want to win pretty bad.”

And Russell practices. Hardly a day goes by when he isn’t doing something golf-related, and he was encouraged by the rapid improvement in his short game this season. If he’s not playing or practicing with the team, he’ll play 18 holes at a municipal course, or work on his hitting, putting and chipping.

Right now, the best club in his bag, and his favorite, he said, is his Cleveland CG12 wedge iron.

Russell finished tied for fifth Thursday at the Sunset League Individual tournament, good enough to advance to the CIF Sectional Invitational. He shot five-over-par 151 through 36 holes at Los Serranos Golf Course in Chino Hills.

“From 100 yards in I’ve gotten tremendously better,” Russell said. “These last two days, if I wasn’t putting well, there’s no way I’d be moving on right now.”

The question now for Russell is whether he can sustain his current performance through the postseason, and whether he’ll carry his arc of progress through his next two years of high school.

“I think he’ll continue to get better,” Tarnow said. “He wants it pretty bad. He wants to leave Newport Harboras the best player at least since I’ve been coaching.

“That’s his thing. He’s a golfer and he wants to play golf and be the best.

“Once you have that drive and you see that progress, it’s easy to keep the motor running.”

SORAYA NADIA McDONALD may be reached at (714) 966-4613 or at [email protected].