Chinese Taipei’s Kevin Yu makes history with maiden PGA Tour title

Kevin Yu made golf history by becoming only the third player from Chinese Taipei to win a PGA Tour tournament following a thrilling playoff victory over Beau Hossler in the Sanderson Farms Championship on Sunday.

The 26-year-old Yu birdied the 18th hole twice at The Country Club of Jackson, Mississippi, first from 15 feet in regulation to force extra-time and then from six feet to claim a “dream” victory in front of his parents, who were among the fans gathered for the second of eight PGA Tour FedExCup Fall tournaments.

“It's literally a dream come true,” said Yu, who joins T.C. Chen (1987 LA Open, now the Genesis Invitational) and C.T. Pan (2019 RBC Heritage) as winners from Chinese Taipei.

“I've been dreaming of this moment since I was five. I think this is the dream for all the golfers, to win on PGA Tour. And then I did it today and I'm really thankful for my parents right there right now. Without them, I don't think I could've done this, win this tournament.”

He started the final round two shots back of leader Keith Mitchell (70) and forced his way into a two-way playoff with Hossler (68) with a closing 67, which included a pivotal birdie at the last hole in regulation. Yu and Hossler ended the week on 23-under, with Mitchell sharing third place with Lucas Glover (66).

“I knew I have to make a birdie to have a chance get into a playoff, so just to see that I can really pull the trigger to do the things I wanted to do, I think that helped me a lot with my mindset,” said Yu, who ranked second in Strokes Gained: Putting for the event.

“I've been working really hard. Sometimes you can't; sometimes you can. Like today, like in that pressure moment, I can do it. I think that helped me a lot. I think that definitely stood out to me for this week.”

Yu paid tribute to his father, Tommy, who operated a local driving range back home and taught him the game when he was about five years old. They subsequently worked hard to support Yu’s golf ambition and with C.T. Pan encouraging him to attend college in the US, he made his way to highly rated Arizona State University, where he was a standout and benefited from advent of PGA Tour University, which gave him direct access