Kevin Yu

Chun-An Yu started playing golf at the age of five because his father was a golf coach at a driving range in Taiwan. His father was his first coach, and Yu won his first tournament in the third grade. Yu first came to the U.S. when he was 13 to play AJGA events in the summer, and two years later, he broke through as the gold-medal winner in golf at the Asian Youth Games. At 17, he won the 98th annual Western Junior title in 2015 after clinching victory in a sudden-death playoff. Yu was also the 2015 Junior Players Champion, winning by a shot after trailing the leader by 6. That's when big schools in the U.S. first started to take notice. Yu almost went to the University of Washington, where his mentor, C.T. Pan, was a star. It never worked out, and he was recruited and went to Arizona State. There was a hurdle left for Yu, however. Every school in the NCAA has an English proficiency exam for international students, and Yu did not pass the test at first. Arizona State coach Matt Thurmond ended up enlisting Pan and his wife to help Yu, and after "a ton" of English tutoring and hard work, he got the score. Thurmond already knew Yu as a high-character guy and a superstar player. They just had to cross the proverbial finish line.
In the 2017 U.S. Amateur, he defeated highly-ranked Collin Morikawa in the third round of match play but lost to Theo Humphrey 1 up in the quarterfinals. Yu won the 2017 National Invitational, the 2018 Bandon Dunes Championship, the 2019 Australian Masters of the Amateurs, and the 2019 Thunderbird Collegiate. Other notable finishes include a pair of 2nd-place finishes at the 2017 ASU Thunderbird Invitational and 2018 National Invitational Tournament, and a 3rd-place finish at the 2019 NCAA National Championships. He played in the 2018 U.S. Amateur and lost in the round of 32 to Andrew Alligood 2 & 1. In the 2019 Amateur, shot 73-75 to miss match play.
Having just completed his junior season, Yu has one more year to go to Arizona State, but has now been a medalist at the U.S. Open's California qualifying site two years in a row. After rounds 64-67 he heads to a Pebble Beach, a course he enjoyed playing en route to a round of 32 loss in last summer's U.S. Amateur.
Yu played in his third consecutive U.S. Open start as an amateur at Winged Foot in 2020 after being among the top seven in the World Amateur Golf Ranking as of Aug. 19. Yu was No. 3 in the WAGR. He missed the cut at both the 2018 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills and at Pebble Beach in 2019. Because of COVID-19, Yu returned for a fifth year at Arizona State.
2021 Notes: After finishing his fifth year at Arizona State, he turned professional. Since he was 4th in the inaugural PGA Tour University class of 2021, he gained an exemption into the Korn Ferry Tour. In his first professional start, he finished T-20th in the 2021 BMW Charity Pro-Am on the Korn Ferry Tour. The next week finished T-5th at the Wichita Open, shot 72 in the final round to finish three back of the winner Harry Hall. In his fourth Korn Ferry start at the TPC Colorado Championship, he finished T-2nd, losing a playoff to Tag Ridings. At the start of his 8th Korn Ferry year, he finished T-12th at the Pinnacle Bank Championship. He went to the Korn Ferry Tour Qualifier and finished T-63rd.
2022 Notes: Played in 21 Korn Ferry Tour events, making 12 cuts with three top-ten finishes. Was 2nd at the Simmons Bank Open, one shot back of winner Brent Grant. Was 3rd at the Wichita Open, six shots back of winner Norman Xiong. Was T-2nd at the Price Cutter Charity, six shots back of winner David Kocher. Finished 23rd in the season-long Korn Ferry Tour eligibility points list, earning his PGA Tour card for 2023. Played in six PGA Tour events and was T-7th at the Puerto Rico Open.
2023 Notes: Played in 23 PGA Tour events, making 12 cuts with three top-ten finishes. Finished 99th on the FedEx Cup rankings. As a full-time member of the PGA Tour, he had his first top-three finish with a T-3rd at the Bermuda Championship. Shot 70 in a windy final round to finish two shots back of the winner, Seamus Power. Shot a final round 67 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-am to finish T-7th. Unfortunately, while training after Pebble with his trainer, in doing a vertical jump, when he landed, he heard a "pop" in his knee and suffered a lot of pain. On February 20th, he underwent surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee, halting his rookie season. In June, he was able to resume limited practice and hitting balls. In the lead-up, his rehabilitation work helped keep him fit and strengthen the muscles in his legs. After a month of practice, he felt good with his game and made his first start back at the Travelers Championship, finishing T-49th with rounds of 65-67-71-69. Was T-6th at the John Deere Classic. Did not qualify for the FedExCup Playoffs in his rookie season and went on to finish 111th in the FedExCup Fall and Eligibility Points List.
2024 Notes: Played in 27 PGA Tour events, making 15 cuts with five top-ten finishes. Finished 90th on the FedEx Cup rankings. He finished T-3rd at The American Express, his second career top-five on our and first since the 2022 Butterfield Bermuda Championship (T-3rd). Held a one-shot lead after the first round of the Farmers Insurance Open and finished T-6th, three shots back of the winner, Matthieu Pavon. Was T-4th at the inaugural Myrtle Beach Classic. Represented Chinese Taipei at the Olympics, finishing 52nd. In the fall swing, defeated Beau Hossler in a playoff to win the Sanderson Farms Championship, earning his first career PGA Tour title in his 56th start at the age of 26 years, 1 month, 25 days.
2025 Notes: Shot a final round 65 to finish 4th at the Myrtle Beach Classic, one shot back of the Ryan Fox/Harry Higgs/MacKenzie Hughes Playoff. Shot 63-66 over the weekend to finish 3rd at the RBC Canadian Open, a shot back of the Ryan Fox/Sam Burns playoff.