Chinese Taipei rookie Kevin Yu vowed to keep his foot on the pedal after notching his second top-10 of the season on the PGA TOUR following an impressive tied seventh finish at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on Monday.
The 24-year-old Yu made three birdies over his remaining five holes at the iconic venue to sign for a closing 5-under 67 and finished on 12-under 275, six shots back of winner Justin Rose of England.
Rose, 42, ended a four-year winless run when he earned his 11th PGA TOUR victory with a final round of 66 to win by three strokes from Brendan Todd (65) and Brandon Wu (66).
Yu jumped to 40th position on the latest FedExCup points list to enhance his hopes of qualifying for the Playoffs, which is limited to the top-70 this season. It would also guarantee starts in the biggest events on TOUR including the new designated tournaments which began in 2023.
“It was a really solid round. The last five holes, this morning, there was no wind, perfect weather. Greens were playing pretty soft so you can be a little more aggressive. Then my putting felt pretty good the last couple holes. I was able to make some birdies coming back. So it was good,” said Yu, who graduated from the Korn Ferry Tour last year.
“It’s awesome. This is by far my favourite course. I played here at the U.S. Amateur, U.S. Open and I always like to play out here. It was great. You have to really be patient out there. I’m pretty happy. Secure some points, which is really helpful for me in the reshuffle. I’m just trying to play my best every single round. I’m looking forward to the upcoming events.”
The former world amateur No. 1 is not eligible to compete in the next two tournaments, the WM Phoenix Open and Genesis Invitational, where both the designated events offer lucrative prize funds of US$20 million with star-studded line-ups.
“Not in right now. But the last couple holes, I mean, it helped my confidence too, helped my game. It’s like, Oh, I can be up there. Hopefully get a spot (in the future). But I’m really looking forward to the upcoming events. Just do my best job and play my best golf out there,” said Yu, who will next tee up at The Honda Classic later this month.
Yu, who is Arizona State University alumni, said quality time spent at home in Chinese Taipei during the recent winter break was rejuvenating. “It was great. A little time off. Went fishing with my friends. Just spent some time with my family which is great. I think most important is taking some time off and get my body feeling great again so I can get ready to go this season. It has helped me a lot,” said Yu.
Englishman Rose, who was the 2016 Olympic Games gold medal winner, was beaming with joy following his return to the winner’s circle. “I feel like I have been fortunate enough to win at some great venues, but Pebble’s right up there. Just that walk up 18 to sort of be able to build a bit of a lead to kind of enjoy it was a very special moment. I think obviously when you’re a bit starved for a win as well, the fact that it came today on a weather day like we had and at a venue that we had today was just worth waiting for,” he said.
Korea’s Sung Kang (68) and Satoshi Kodaira (67) of Japan finished tied 29th on 280, with another Korean, Byeong Hun An (69) further down in equal 37th position on 282.
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