JACKSON, Miss. — Kevin Yu made a 15-foot birdie on the final hole of regulation play for a 5-under-par 67, and he birdied the same No. 18 again from six feet in a playoff to beat Beau Hossler and win the Sanderson Farms Championship on Sunday for the first PGA Tour victory of his career.
Yu was nearly forgotten for most of a final round that appeared to be a duel between Hossler and Keith Mitchell until the 26-year-old from Taiwan made a birdie to tie the two American golfers for the lead at the Country Club of Jackson.
Hossler pulled his drive on the 18th in regulation behind a tree, had to pitch out and hit his third shot to four feet to save par. Mitchell had a 35-foot birdie putt to win it and it grazed the left edge of the cup — but then he also missed the four-foot comebacker for par, bogeyed to close out a 70 and missed the playoff.
Mitchell, a 32-year-old Chattanooga native and former Baylor School and University of Georgia standout, was seeking a second PGA Tour victory to go with his triumph at the Honda Classic in March 2019. He still got his best result on tour since tying for third at the CJ Cup at Summit in October 2021.
He tied for third Sunday with 2009 U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover, who played the last six holes in 5 under par — including pitching in for an eagle on the par-4 15th — to close with a 66.
Mitchell was two shots ahead with five to play when he failed to birdie the par-5 14th or the reachable par-4 15th. He still had a putt to win, and that’s where it all went wrong with a three-putt bogey.
“The first putt actually looked good off the face. Right when it missed, I kind of turned my head and didn’t watch the read on the way by,” Mitchell said. “I assumed it was breaking — guess it broke left. It was going to break right back up the hill.”
He played the four-foot par putt inside the left edge and it stayed out to the left.
“I hate that I finished with a three-putt,” Mitchell said. “Felt like I grinded all the way to the end and gave the first putt a really good chance.”
AP photo by Sarah Warnock / Chattanooga resident Stephan Jaeger inspects his club on the first hole at the Country Club of Jackson during Sunday’s final round of the PGA Tour’s Sanderson Farms Championship. Jaager, a former Baylor School and UTC graduate, tied for 23rd.Two other Baylor grads were in the field Sunday, with Stephan Jaeger (69) tying for 23rd at 16 under and Luke List (69) sharing 42nd at 12 under. List won last year’s Sanderson Farms Championship for his second and most recent PGA Tour victory.
Yu and Hossler, who shot a 68, finished 72 holes at 23-under 265.
Hossler again was left off the tee on the 18th in the playoff. Yu hit first and sent his approach to six feet right of the hole. Hossler had to punch below the trees, and it turned too much and went into a front bunker. He blasted out to two feet to secure par.
Yu’s winning putt sends him to the Masters and the PGA Championship for the first time. He also gets to start his season at Kapalua for The Sentry in January.
“I’ve been dreaming this moment since I was 5,” Yu said. “This is the dream for all golfers, to win on the PGA Tour. I did it today. I’m thankful for my parents. Without them, I couldn’t have done that.”
This was Hossler’s 200th start on the PGA Tour without winning, and it was as close as any for the 29-year-old.
“Even though I didn’t have my best stuff on the back nine, I grinded really hard,” Hossler said “Hit some really quality shots under the gun, and that’s all you can do. Obviously, Kevin played a beautiful hole in the playoff.”
AP photo by Sarah Warnock / Kevin Yu follows through after teeing off in Sunday’s final round of the PGA Tour’s Sanderson Farms Championship at the Country Club of Jackson in Mississippi. The 26-year-old from Taiwan beat Beau Hossler on the first extra hole to earn his first PGA Tour victory.First win in ‘forever’
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Rocco Mediate missed a four-foot par putt for the win on the 72nd hole, but then he converted from about the same distance on the second playoff hole to beat Bob Estes and win the Constellation Furyk & Friends, a PGA Tour Champions event.
Mediate, who closed with a 1-under 71 at Timuquana Country Club, won for the first time in five years and earned his fifth victory on the 50-and-older circuit.
“It’s been forever,” the 61-year-old said. “I struggled a lot. This week was good most of the time, today in spots it wasn’t good. But’s it very satisfying that I got another one. Amazing for me. A lot of good things happened.”
It was harder work than he wanted. Mediate was three shots ahead with four holes to play in regulation, and two holes later he was tied. His wedge shot to the par-5 15th went left down a slope and led to a bogey, while Estes boldly went for the green protected by water and made a birdie.
Estes then hit a draw around the tall pines to five feet for birdie to tie for the lead. Mediate responded with a 15-foot birdie putt on the par-3 17th, but he had to settle for a bogey on the 18th. Estes got up and down for a par and his own 71 as they finished regulation at 12-under 204.
Mediate faced a 10-footer for par on the 18th in the playoff just to keep going after Estes poured in a par from 18 feet. Mediate made that one, then made his four-foot par on the second extra hole after Estes missed from 15 feet, keeping the 58-year-old Texan winless on the senior circuit.
AP file photo by Butch Dill / Rocco Mediate won a PGA Tour Champions tournament Sunday in Jacksonville, Fla. It’s the 61-year-old Mediate’s fifth career win on the senior circuit, but his first in five years.Hatton all over again
ST. ANDREWS, Scotland — Tyrrell Hatton won the DP World Tour’s Dunhill Links Championship for a record third time after making a birdie at the 18th hole on the Old Course at St. Andrews to finish a stroke clear of Belgiumn’s Nicolas Colsaerts, who was in the final group with the 32-year-old Englishman.
Both players walked down the storied last hole at the home of golf tied for the lead and having hit their drives just short of the green.
Colsaerts, No. 695 in the Official World Golf Ranking and seeking his first victory in five years as he battles back after being diagnosed with a rare kidney disease, putted to eight feet and missed his birdie attempt, leaving Hatton a chance for victory after chipping within four feet. Hatton’s birdie putt went into the center of the cup.
Hatton, who competed this year in the rival LIV Golf League, closed with a 2-under 70 to finish at 24-under 264, tying the tournament record he set in 2017, when he repeated as the tournament’s champion.
“To do it at the home of golf is really special,” said Hatton, who is set to climb to 20th in the OWGR on the strength of his seventh career win on the DP World Tour andf irst since the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship in January 2021. “Hard to describe, to be honest. I’m at a loss for words.”
The 41-year-old Colsaerts, who also shot a 70, might have done enough with his runner-up finish to regain his card for next year on the tour.
England’s Tommy Fleetwood (67) was third at 21 under in the tournament, which is played over three Scottish courses: St. Andrews, Kingsbarns and Carnoustie.
AP file photo by Kamran Jebreili / Tyrell Hatton won the DP World Tour’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship for the third time Sunday.Great day for a win
FRENCH LICK, Ind. — Braden Thornberry birdied the final hole for a 6-under 66 and his first Korn Ferry Tour victory at the best time. The victory Sunday in the developmental circuit’s Tour Championship made him one of 30 players who earned PGA Tour cards for next year.
Thornberry was No. 51 on the Korn Ferry points list going into the final event of the season, and he had to choke back tears when it was clear no one would catch him on the leaderboard.
He finished the 72-hole event at 9-under 279 and won by one shot over Brian Campbell (70), Alistair Docherty (68) and Doc Redman (72). Campbell already was assured of being in the top 30, while the other two narrowly missed out.
Redman was leading the Korn Ferry Tour Championship until it took three shots from a greenside bunker to get onto the putting surface, leading to a double bogey. Two holes later, he bladed a chip on the 17th and made another bogey, costing him his card.
Redman needed an eagle to force a playoff on the 661-yard closing hole at the Pete Dye-designed course at French Lick Golf Resort. He holed a 10-foot birdie putt on the last hole, where Campbell made a five-foot par putt.
Those putts created a three-way tie for second and took enough points away from Docherty, who finished earlier, that he moved outside the top 30. Noah Goodwin finished at No. 30 to get the last card instead.
Players who finished out of the top 30 on the points list can still go to Q-school, where five PGA Tour cards will be available.
AP photo by Lindsey Wasson / Wenyi Ding watches his tee shot on the eighth hole at Los Angeles Country Club during the first round of the 2023 U.S. Open.Ding might go pro
SHIZUOKA, Japan — Wenyi Ding capped a marathon day on the golf course with a 3-under 67 that carried the 19-year-old from China to a one-shot victory in the Asia-Pacific Amateur and earned him an invitation to the Masters and the British Open next year.
The majors, though, might have to wait. Golf Digest reported that Ding plans to take up membership on the Europe-based DP World Tour, a pro circuit, through the new “Global Amateur Pathway” for the leading player from the top 20 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings who is not competing in college. The Masters and British Open typically require players to remain an amateur to use such exemptions.
Ding, who did not return to Arizona State this season after being an All-American as a freshman, had to play 14 holes Sunday to complete a 67 in the weather-delayed third round, which left him tied for the 54-hole lead with fellow Chinese player Ziqin Zhou. That was followed by the final round, when he pulled ahead after the 18-year-old Zhou made a bogey on the second hole and Ding birdied the third, although there was plenty of drama at the end.
Zhou, a University of California freshman, birdied the 18th for a 68 to tie for the lead. Ding regained the lead with his final birdie at the 17th, a 239-yard par 3 where he hit his tee shot to six feet.
On the par-5 closing hole at Taiheiyo Club Gotemba, Ding found a bunker off the tee, laid up and hit his third shot to the back of the green. He ran his putt about four feet by the hole, but then made par for the win.
Ding, a former U.S. Junior Amateur champion — which allowed him to make his major debut in the 2023 U.S. Open — and at No. 5 the highest-ranked amateur in the field, finished at 12-under 268 and atoned for a playoff loss in the Asia-Pacific Amateur last year at Australia’s Royal Melbourne. He is the fifth player from China to win in the 15 years of the Asia-Pacific Amateur.
“It feels really good,” Ding said. “Last year I lost in the playoff and just felt I couldn’t play any better. And this year I got the trophy. It’s amazing.”