Kevin Woo, Taiwanese-born PGA Champion Crowned

Sudden Victory at Sanderson Farms Championship
Jinjichung Cheers as Winner Following Panjeongchung
Hossler 2nd, Mitchell 3rd, Lee Kyunghun 23rd

Kevin Yu (Taiwan) made new history.

Kevin Yee is cheering after securing a playoff victory at the Sanderson Farms Championship. Jackson (USA) = AFP·Yonhap News Photo by Jackson

On the 6th (local time), at the Jackson Country Club (par 72, 7,461 yards) in Jackson, Mississippi, USA, during the 4th round of the PGA Tour Sanderson Farms Championship (total prize money $7.6 million), Kevin Yu shot 5 under par to tie with Bo Ho-sler (USA) at 23 under par 265 strokes, then secured the winning birdie on the first hole of the sudden-death playoff at the 18th hole (par 4).

Kevin Yu claimed his first victory since his regular tour debut last year. The winner's prize money is $1,368,000 (approximately 1.8 billion KRW). Kevin Yu became the third Taiwanese winner in PGA Tour history, following Jin Ji-chung and Pan Jeong-chung. He also improved his FedEx Cup ranking from 96th to 60th.

Starting from 3rd place, 2 strokes behind, Kevin Yu made 6 birdies (1 bogey). After a birdie on the 3rd hole (par 5) was canceled out by a bogey on the 6th hole (par 4), he changed the momentum with consecutive birdies on the 8th and 9th holes. He added birdies on the 11th and 15th holes to join the race for the title, and made a dramatic birdie on the 18th hole to push the match into a playoff. On the first playoff hole, Kevin Yu’s second shot landed 1.5 meters from the hole, securing his first career victory trophy.

Kevin Yu is a representative ‘young gun’ of Taiwan. He won a gold medal at the 2013 Asian Youth Games, a team gold medal and an individual bronze medal at the 2014 Asian Games. He began studying golf at Arizona State University in 2017 and won the Australian Amateur Masters in 2019. Turning professional in 2021, he played on the Korn Ferry (second-tier) Tour the following year before joining the PGA regular tour in 2023.

Bo Ho-sler shed tears after sending his tee shot into the rough during the playoff. Keith Mitchell (USA), who led the previous day, failed to join the playoff due to a 3-putt bogey on the 18th hole. Lucas Glover (USA) finished tied for 3rd place (22 under par 266 strokes). Patton Kizzire (USA), who won the previous tournament, the ProCore Championship, finished tied for 11th place (18 under par 270 strokes). Rickie Fowler (USA) finished tied for 16th (17 under par 271 strokes), and Lee Kyung-hoon improved by 4 strokes but remained tied for 23rd (16 under par 272 strokes). Defending champion Luke List (USA) finished tied for 42nd (12 under par 276 strokes).