A couple of little birdies — one to force a playoff and another to win — told Kevin Yu he’d earned the victory at the Sanderson Farms Championship on Sunday, his first PGA Tour triumph.
For the third year in a row, and fourth time in six years, 72 holes weren’t enough to decide the tournament at the Country Club of Jackson.
Yu and Beau Hossler both finished 23-under-par 265 Sunday, adding an extra hole of suspense before the rooster trophy and $1.368 million were awarded to the winner.
Hossler, too, was going for his first PGA Tour victory but parred the playoff hole.
“I’m excited inside my mind but I’m trying to be as calm as possible from outside,” Yu said. “I feel like I took a little break from last month, (it) really helped me. I feel like I was playing great and just mentally I was just kind of tired, frustrated, and just feel like momentum couldn’t going anywhere in the last maybe six months.”
That wasn’t so during four days at the Country Club of Jackson, where Yu, who played at Arizona State and finished third in the NCAA Division I men’s championship in 2019, became the third Taiwanese player to win on the PGA Tour.
“It’s literally a dream come true,” Yu said. “I’ve been dreaming of this moment since I was 5. I think this is the dream for all the golfers, to win on the PGA.
“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.”
Keith Mitchell, who led going into the final round, finished tied for third with Lucas Glover at 22-under after he bogeyed his final hole. Alex Smalley’s 9-under was the lowest round of the day and pushed him into a fifth-place tie with Bud Cauley at 21-under.
A tournament that began with David Skinns shooting a course-record 60 ended with a first-time champion.
Paul Skrbina is a sports enterprise reporter for the USA Today Network. Reach him at pskrbina@gannett.com and on the X platform (formerly known as Twitter) @paulskrbina. Follow his work here
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This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Kevin Yu wins his first PGA Tour title at Sanderson Farms playoff
