Sudarshan Yellamaraju, an Indian-born Canadian, romped to an impressive five-shot victory at the Bahamas Great Abaco Classic at The Abaco Club on Wednesday to secure his maiden Korn Ferry Tour victory.

The 23-year-old Yellamaraju fired a closing 8-under 64, highlighted by eight birdies against no bogeys, to post a winning aggregate of 25-under 263, breaking the tournament record by a staggering seven shots. Scotland’s Russell Knox (65), a two-time PGA TOUR winner, and Japan’s Kensei Hirata (67), who is making his KFT debut, finished tied second.

“It feels great. I mean, feels good that the hard work and all the hours that I’ve put in, me and my parents, has kind of paid off,” said a jubilant Yellamaraju.

The career breakthrough moved him up to No. 2 on the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour Points List, with the top-20 players at the end of the season earning PGA TOUR cards for next year. Yellamaraju earned starts in the first eight events of the 2025 season following a T36 finish at Final Stage of 2024 PGA TOUR Q-School in December.

Holding a one-shot overnight lead, the left-handed golfer produced another day of flawless golf by turning in 31 to separate himself from the chasing pack before cruising home with three more birdies for a stylish victory. His triumph was made even sweeter as he was bogey-free through his last 52 holes, since the second hole of the second round.

“I knew guys were going to come out firing and scoring. So I knew I had to just keep going because they’re pretty good players. I just wanted to play good shots. Whatever it was, just wanted to shoot as low as possible and think I did a pretty good job,” he said.

Born in Visakhapatnam, India, Yellamaraju’s family moved to Canada when he was four years old. He had shown interest in the sport while still in India when his father had golf on the TV back home.

“My dad would put golf on the TV just kind of as a pastime. The only time I would sit still and not be a crazy mess around the house would be when I watch golf and just sit beside him., My mom saw it and she’s like, he seems to intrigued. I don’t know what it was, maybe it was just the colours or something. They eventually got a plastic set and I was just hitting it around the house and I loved it. Eventually when we moved to Canada, I got into it. They only got into it because I did and had an interest. Yeah, it’s been quite the journey since then, for sure,” said Yellamaraju, who turned professional in 2021.

With his father celebrating his birthday on Wednesday, Yellamaraju, who now lives in Mississauga, Canada, paid tribute to his parents’ support and dedication in helping him pursue his golf dreams.

“I just saw the biggest grin on his face I’ve ever seen in my life. It’s special,” Yellamaraju said of his video call with his father. “First off, he said it the best, it’s very rare to have a tournament in January that we play and it’s on his birthday in a final round. It just kind of fell all into place.

“I guess it was just meant to be, to have it be done, my first big win on his birthday. They’ve put in so much, a lot of sacrifices and a lot of support getting me to be where I am. They’ll hopefully continue for the future and I can’t wait to see them tomorrow.”

Leaderboard

Charting the Champion (stats updated through tournament)

Sudarshan Yellamaraju (1st/-25)

• Captures first career Korn Ferry Tour victory in his 29th start on Tour
• Fourth time the 54-hole leader/co-leader has gone on to win the Bahamas Great Abaco Classic at The Abaco Club
• Becomes the 20th Canadian to win on the Korn Ferry Tour; third to win The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic at The Abaco Club (Adam Svensson/2018; Ben Silverman/2023)
• At 25-under 263, breaks the previous 72-hole tournament scoring record of 270; shared by Jared Wolfe (2020), Brandon Harkins (2022) and Zecheng Dou (2022)
• Moves to No. 2 on the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour Points List
• Sixth winner under the age of 24 years old to win on the Korn Ferry Tour since the start of the 2023 season
• Secured guaranteed starts in the first eight events of the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour season with a T36 finish at Final Stage of 2024 PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry
• As a rookie, Finished No. 99 on the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour Points List, logging 13 made cuts and one top-10 finish (T7/NV5 Invitational) in 25 starts
• Finished T14 at Final Stage of 2023 PGA TOUR Q-School to earn Korn Ferry Tour membership for the first time
• Previously competed on PGA TOUR Canada (2022, 2023); where he made 12 cuts in 18 total starts with four top-10s
• Turned professional in 2021 and plays from Mississauga, Ontario
• Born in Visakhapatnam, India

Additional Player Notes

• Japan’s Kesei Hirata (T2/-20), a seven-time winner on the Japan Golf Tour, cards a 4-under 68 in the final round to secure a runner-up finish in his Korn Ferry Tour debut
• Two-time PGA TOUR winner Russell Knox (T2/-20) records a 7-under 65 in the final round to record a second consecutive top-10 finish to begin the 2025 season
• 36-hole co-leader Christo Lamprecht (4th/-19), who finished No. 2 in the 2024 PGA TOUR University Ranking, logs the best result of his professional career with a solo fourth (previous: T5/2024 NV5 Invitational)
• First-round leader Luke Guthrie (T5/-18), a two-time winner on the Korn Ferry Tour, places T5 for his first top-five finish across any PGA TOUR-sanctioned Tour since the 2019 NV5 Invitational (T4)
• Hank Lebioda (T7/-17) follows up his first career victory at The Bahamas Golf Classic at Atlantis Paradise Island with a top-10 finish and remains No. 1 on the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour Points List
• Korn Ferry Tour winner Josh Teater (T7/-17), who competed as a sponsor exemption this week, logs his best career finish at The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic in the form of a T7 in what was his fifth start at the event (previous best: T15/2017)
• First-year members Jonas Baumgartner (T7/-17), Zach James (T7/-17) and Rayhan Thomas (T7/-17) record the first top-10 results of their careers on Tour; James and Thomas made their way around The Abaco Club at Winding Bay bogey-free in the closing round with scores of 5-under 67 and 7-under 65, respectively