From PGA Tour U to iconic Pebble Beach, Taiwan’s Kevin Yu is living the dream

Each year, C.T. Pan conducts a junior training camp in Taipei during the off-season where he shares his experience and golf insights on the PGA Tour with aspiring juniors.

Kevin Yu of Taiwan acknowledges the gallery on the 17th green during the first round of ZOZO Championship at Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club on Oct. 19, 2023 in Inzai, Chiba, Japan. [GETTY IMAGES]

Each year, C.T. Pan conducts a junior training camp in Taipei during the off-season where he shares his experience and golf insights on the PGA Tour with aspiring juniors. He also drives home a key point — do all you can to get into a U.S. college or university golf programme.

Pan is a firm advocate of the American golf collegiate system where he enjoyed a stellar career at the University of Washington before realizing his dream of winning on the PGA Tour on 2019, the same year he became the first golfer from Chinese Taipei to compete in the Presidents Cup.

After graduating in 2015, he grinded his way through the former PGA Tour Canada and Korn Ferry Tour before finding himself in dreamland competing against Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa and Viktor Hovland, who are amongst the current crop of PGA Tour stars who also went through the same college route.

One of the kids who heeded Pan’s clarion call is compatriot Kevin Yu, who graduated from Arizona State University (ASU) in 2021 and is now flourishing on the PGA Tour in his second season. Yu must also thank the innovative PGA Tour University programme which provides playing opportunities for leading college golfers once they join the pro ranks.

Kevin Yu of Taiwan hits his shot from the third tee during the first round of the Farmers Insurance Open on the Torrey Pines North Course on Jan. 24 in La Jolla, California. [GETTY IMAGES]

The 25-year-old Yu is presently enjoying a flying start to his 2024 season where a tied third and joint sixth finish in The American Express and Farmers Insurance Open earned him a prized spot in this week’s $20 million AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, the second Signature event of the year, through the Aon Swing 5 incentive.

PGA Tour U, which was launched in 2020, offers privileges to leading college golfers to play on the Korn Ferry Tour while the No. 1 ranked golfer will secure a PGA Tour card. Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg, the top-ranked player last year, has made the most of PGA Tour U by winning the RSM Classic last fall.

The focus, though, is now on Yu to live up to his full promise, where this week’s location at the world-famous Pebble Beach and a tournament steeped in history, offers the ideal backdrop for him to shine once more against the stars.

“C.T. is a good friend. He’s set a good example to me and all the young kids. He started college in Washington. He was winning tournaments and setting a good example for me to try to achieve. He’s given me a lot of advice and now that I’m here, I’ll try to do the same thing and maybe try to do better than him. Best advice before coming here is that there are just no short cuts for your dreams and we’ll get there if we work hard,” said Yu, who finished tied seventh at last year’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

He will also forever be indebted to his five years spent at ASU where head coach Matt Thurmond, who also coached Pan in Washington, played a key role in Yu’s development as a player. “I’m so glad I made the choice to play for Arizona State, it was a wonderful experience. It (PGA Tour U) means a lot to all the college players as going straight from college to Korn Ferry Tour is not easy,” he said.

Yu’s rookie season last year was hit-and-miss as a torn meniscus in his left knee knocked him out of action for four months. He needed time to rebuild his strength and form, and is now looking to maintain his upward trend after posting back-to-back top 10s for the first time in his fledgling career. “I can see the game is trending right now, so hopefully I can keep it up,” he said.

From the days where he began playing golf as a seven-year-old with his father, who owned a driving range and is a teaching professional, Yu knows the road to the top is long and windy. He showed an in-born fighting spirit as a child — “I wanted to beat my dad so bad out there, and that's what got me into this game” — and it could well unlock the door to a first PGA Tour victory where only Pan (2019 RBC Heritage) and T.C. Chen (1987 L.A. Open) have been victorious for Chinese Taipei.

BY CHUAH CHOO CHIANG [kjdsports@joongang.co.kr]