Kevin

Yu

The Arizona State product underwent knee surgery in February and was able to start hitting balls six weeks ago. The youngster put together some elite ball-striking weeks before he was sidelined so gamers should certainly keep an eye on him in season-long contests.

Yu shared the news two weeks ago via social media, “Just got done with a surgery this morning due to my left kneee injury. Everything went really well, and I’m looking forward to coming back even stronger.” The 24-year-old was showcasing elite ball-striking skills early in the season, particularly with the driver. Gamers should take him off their radar for the foreseeable future but certainly be ready to spring back into action when he’s able to play again.

The youngster swallowed bogeys at the 4th and 7th holes but circled birdies on three of the final 10 without dropping another shot. He gained 3.15 strokes over the field over in his final 11 holes today. It was a balanced attack this week as he ranked T14 in fairways hit, T39 in GIR, and T23 in putts per GIR. “The wind is really big factor out here the last two days being really, really windy. Just being able to hit a lot of solid shots, hit some fairways, make some putts, it’s a lot of fun, yeah.” With this top-10 finish, Yu will snag a seat to play in next week’s World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba. This will go in the books as his new personal best on the PGA TOUR (T7/2022 Puerto Rico Open).

The 24-year-old missed the cut at the Fortinet Championship, his first start as a card-carrying member of the PGA TOUR. He’s bounced back quickly from that MC, circling seven birdies today, erasing a pair of bogeys. It was a balanced effort for Yu who walked off the course ranked 7th in strokes gained tee-to-green and 10th in putting. Highlights included a near-ace at the par-3 13th and a 37-footer for birdie at the par-4 18th, his ninth hole of the day. Yu was a standout amateur at Arizona State and racked up three podium finishes on the Korn Ferry Tour last season.

Yu carded a 2-under 68 Sunday at Crestview Country Club and notched his third career podium and his second this season after finishing solo second at the 2022 Simmons Bank Open for the Snedeker Foundation in May. On the season, Yu has made nine cuts in 13 KFT starts with two other top-25 finishes. He’s also made six starts on the PGA Tour this season, making two cuts and notching a top 10 at the Puerto Rico Open (T-7) in March. Last year at Crestview CC, Yu finished fifth at 17-under 263. The 23-year-old Arizona State product is in the field for this week’s Live and Work in Maine Open, which kicks off Thursday at Falmouth Country Club in Falmouth, Me. Yu posted a top-25 finish at Falmouth CC in 2021.

The 23-year-old Yu, who played college golf at Arizona State, held a one-shot lead going into the final round at The Grove in College Grove, Tenn., and finished at 15-under273 for his first podium finish since a T-2 at the TPC Colorado Championship at Heron Lakes last July. On the season, Yu’s made four cuts in eight starts, and he’s 2-for-6 in PGA Tour starts. He finished T-7 at the Puerto Rico Open in March and T-27 at the Shriners Children’s Open in October. Yu is in the field for this week’s Visit Knoxville Open, hosted at Holston Hills Country Club in Knoxville, Tenn.

The Arizona State senior is making his third career PGA TOUR start, first in a non-major. He sectional-qualified for both the 2018 U.S. Open (Shinnecock Hills) and the 2019 U.S. Open (Pebble Beach), where he missed the cut by nine and three shots, respectively. The Chinese Taipei native, who also goes by Kevin, (twitter: @kevingolfyu), is in the field as the 2020 recipient of the Arnold Palmer Cup Exemption. He’s currently ranked No. 3 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking with 20 top 10s in 40 events, including three wins. The 21-year-old, who finished 3rd at the 2019 NCAA’s, recorded a T5 at the 2019 Emirates Australian Open 13 weeks ago (65-70-74-67).

The Arizona Sun Devil (who also goes by ‘Kevin’) only swallowed two bogeys today thru 36 holes, circling 10 birdies on his way to the top of the sectional leaderboard. During his freshman season, Yu posted a scoring average of 71.61 (second all-time for ASU freshman behind only Jon Rahm). He improved to 70.58 during his sophomore campaign, highlighted by a Bandon Dunes win. Yu currently ranks 38th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. Others to advance out of the Daly City sectional include: Shintaro Ban (-7), Rhett Rasmussen (-6), Franklin Huang (-6), and S.J. Park (-6). Some notables that didn’t crack the nut include Max Homa, Miguel Tabuena, Collin Morikawa, Justin Suh, and Steven Alker.