Kevin Yu set a goal on Sunday, and then he went out and achieved it.
Yu became only the third Taiwanese player to win on the PGA Tour when he holed a 6-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole to outlast American Beau Hossler and win the Sanderson Farms Championship at the Country Club of Jackson in Mississippi.
“I’m excited, but I’m trying to be as calm as possible. I was playing great. Mentally, I was tired,” said the 26-year-old Yu. “I set a goal today that if I could shoot 5-, 6-under, I had a chance.”
Yu birdied five of his final 12 holes in regulation, capping his rally with a 15-foot birdie putt at the 487-yard, par-4 18th for a 5-under 67, to hold the clubhouse lead at 23-under while Hossler and Keith Mitchell headed to the final tee.
Hossler gamely saved par on the 72nd hole after a pulled drive stopped behind a tree and prompted a pitch-out, forcing extra holes. Mitchell would have joined them had he not boldly raced a 39-foot potential tournament-winning birdie putt some 4 feet past the hole and then missed the comebacker.
Yu earned $1.368 million from the $7.6 million purse, down from $8.2 million last year, and a two-year tour exemption through 2026, plus exemptions into the season-opening Sentry, Players Championship, Masters and PGA Championship. It was the final year of sponsorship for Sanderson Farms, which has underwritten the Jackson stop since 2013.
The tournament was the second of eight FedEx Cup Fall series tournaments that will finalize eligibility for the 2025 season.
“I’ve dreamed of this moment since I was 5,” said Yu, who learned the game from his father, who ran a driving range in Taiwan, before coming to the U.S. to win some major junior titles before playing college golf at Arizona State. “I’m really thankful for my parents, who are there right now. They’ve sacrificed a lot of things.”
Yu became the third PGA Tour winner from Taiwan, joining T.C. Chen (1987 Los Angeles Open) and C.T. Pan (2019 RBC Heritage).
Hossler, 29, who was seeking his first tour title in his 200th career start, stumbled with bogeys at Nos. 10 and 13. He clawed back with birdies at Nos. 14 and 17, claiming a share of the lead with playing competitor Mitchell as they headed to the 18th tee. After a pulled drive on the closing par-4 left him stymied against a tree, Hossler punched out and wedged to within 4 feet, from where he holed out for a share of the lead with Yu.
Mitchell appeared to be in control late in the round, leading by one stroke with two holes to play after a clutch par save at the 16th. The 32-year-old American, whose only tour victory came at the 2019 Honda Classic, tied for third with Lucas Glover at 22-under 266.
Mackenzie Hughes, the only Presidents Cup player to compete one week after the matches at Royal Montreal Golf Club in Canada, closed with a 64 to tie for eighth place.
Glover, 44, whose six tour victories include the 2009 U.S. Open, has enjoyed a career resurgence in recent years after winning in consecutive weeks last year, at Greensboro and at Memphis. He played his final six holes Sunday in 5-under, highlighted by a hole-out eagle from 30 yards at the drivable par-4 15th, to shoot 66.
In the opening round, David Skinns missed a 9-foot birdie putt on the par-4 ninth hole, his 18th of the day, and settled for a 12-under 60. Skinns, a 42-year-old Englishman who played college golf at Tennessee, finished T-37.
Matt McCarty made his first start as a PGA Tour member after earning a promotion as a three-time winner – all in a six-week span late in the year – from the Korn Ferry Tour. McCarty, a 26-year-old left-hander from Scottsdale, Arizona, who played college golf at Santa Clara, opened with a 66 but slid down the leaderboard through the weekend, finishing T-63. He missed the cut in his only previous tour start, at the 2022 U.S. Open. As the No. 1 player in the KFT standings, McCarty earned an exemption on the PGA Tour through 2025 and spots in next year’s Players Championship and U.S. Open.
Reed Hughes, a 71-year-old club professional from Senatobia, Mississippi, earned a spot in Jackson as winner of the PGA Gulf States Section title. Hughes, whose first of eight previous tour starts was at the 1984 Danny Thomas Memphis Classic, shot 76-78 and missed the cut.
Steve Harmon