Chinese Taipei’s Kevin Yu wrapped up his breakthrough 2024 PGA TOUR campaign with a tied 11th finish at the RSM Classic on Sunday which locked two additional Signature Events starts for early next season.
The 26-year-old Yu, who earned his maiden PGA TOUR victory at the Sanderson Farms Championship last month, closed with a final round of 4-under 66 at Sea Island Golf Club for a 12-under 270 total and finished four shots back of Maverick McNealy (68).
The rising Asian star moved up from 61st to 58th position in the Aon Next 10 ranking to secure starts in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am and The Genesis Invitational, which are amongst eight cash-rich Signature events in 2025.
“It was a good week. Coming out this week, I know I have to be maybe Top 30 to get into the two Signature Events. But honestly, out there I wasn’t really thinking that much, we were just trying to play one good shot at a time and it was a good week. Everything was solid,” said Yu, who is already exempt into the first Signature Event of 2025, The Sentry in Hawaii, following his win last month aside from earning starts at THE PLAYERS Championship (March), Masters Tournament (April) and PGA Championship (May).
He hit six birdies against two bogeys to keep himself within the Aon Next 10 bracket as McNealy sealed his maiden PGA TOUR title by a single shot, thanks to a superb closing birdie on the 18th hole. It was the perfect finish to a memorable season for Yu, who posted four other top-10s to earn over US$3.2 million this season.
“Obviously got to win this year,” he smiled. “Coming into this year, I know I was playing good and everything was so close. I didn’t make it to the Playoffs, but just after that, I feel I was still playing good, just to think how can I improve, how can I get better. Just a reset (back home during the break) and coming out to Sanderson Farms and the mindset is different and just feel like everything was going really good. I just feel like my mind was really fresh and everything was solid and just take that into next year, try and do the same and hopefully do better.”
He will now head home to Taipei to recharge his batteries and begin the new season in Hawaii at The Sentry. Earning spots at Pebble Beach and The Genesis Invitational also means he can plan his early season schedule as he looks to build on his 2024 season.
“It’s going to be fun. Obviously now for sure I know my schedule. It will be good just for schedule wise I know where should I go, should I maybe miss. So just knowing that is going to be great. I love those two tournaments,” said Yu, who finished top-10 in Pebble Beach in 2023.
Japan’s Ryo Hisatsune concluded his rookie campaign on the PGA TOUR with a tied 17th finish after a final round 66. He finished his year with one top-10 and six top-25s to safely keep his TOUR card.
With the conclusion of FedExCup Fall, Korea’s S.H. Kim and China’s Carl Yuan, who both missed the halfway cut at the RSM Classic, are poised to sign up for the Final Stage of PGA TOUR Qualifying School presented by Korn Ferry in a couple of weeks’ time after finishing outside the top 125 which was the cut off to retain their TOUR cards. They will still retain conditional status on the PGA TOUR which guarantees a limited number of starts in 2025.
Final-Round Notes – Sunday, November 24, 2024
Weather: Sunny. High of 68. Wind WSW 5-10 mph.
Third-Round Leaderboard
| Pos. | Player | Course | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Total |
| 1 | Maverick McNealy | SS-PL-SS-SS | 62 | 70 | 66 | 68 | 266 (-16) |
| T2 | Luke Clanton (a) | SS-PL-SS-SS | 68 | 65 | 68 | 66 | 267 (-15) |
| T2 | Nico Echavarria | SS-PL-SS-SS | 67 | 67 | 68 | 65 | 267 (-15) |
| T2 | Daniel Berger | SS-PL-SS-SS | 71 | 66 | 63 | 67 | 267 (-15) |
