Taiwanese rising star Kevin Yu is tomorrow to make his Masters Tournament debut at Augustus National Golf Club in Georgia.
The 26-year-old in October last year beat out Californian Beau Hossler at the Sanderson Farms Championship to win his first PGA Tour title and earn his spot among the 95 players competing at this year’s Masters.
He is just the third Taiwanese to qualify for the prestigious tournament, following T.C. Chen, who finished tied for 12th in 1987 after earning a spot by winning the Los Angeles Open that same year, and C.T. Pan, who tied for seventh at the 2020 Masters.
Photo: AFP
Pan, who won the bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021, earned his Masters berth after winning the RBC Heritage in 2019.
Yu, who turned professional in 2021 and last year represented Taiwan at the Paris Games, was a two-time All-American at Arizona State University and in November 2020 became the top-ranked amateur in the world, according to the Masters Web site.
The Web site of Golf Digest on Monday named Yu as one of the five players to pick for people making a Masters betting pool.
Yu, who has finished in the top 20 of four tournaments this year, has long drives that could benefit him on Augustus’ par-five holes, the magazine said.
PGA tour statistics rank Yu ninth for total driving with a score of 95 and ninth in eagles per hole with a score of 78.8.
Betsperts Golf’s “Rabbit Hole” data platform ranked Yu in the top 10 in ball-striking over the past six months.
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