NEWTON SQUARE, Pa. — Sudarshan Yellamaraju already has had a year full of firsts. But this week at the PGA Championship, he’ll add another to his ever-growing list of professional accomplishments — the Canadian is set to make his major championship debut.
Yellamaraju was initially the second alternate for this week but moved up to first alternate when Phil Mickelson formally withdrew. He then got into the field Sunday as the PGA Tour reserved a spot for the winner of both the ONEFlight Myrtle Beach Classic (won by Brandt Snedeker) and the Truist Championship.
But the winner of the Truist, Kristoffer Reitan, already was in the field. That meant the 24-year-old Canadian got the major bump.
“It’s been pretty cool,” Yellamaraju said Tuesday. “I’ve dreamed of playing in majors and the biggest tournament, but I’m going to treat it like any other tournament and just go play golf.”
Yellamaraju, a rookie on the PGA Tour, burst onto the scene at The Players Championship where he finished tied for fifth — the best finish by a rookie at TPC Sawgrass since 2013. He backed that up with a tie for sixth the next week and has notched four other top-20 results so far this season.
He’s about to enter his fifth week in a row on Tour — but it’s been for a good reason. Yellamaraju has been playing so well that he keeps earning his way into signature events, which weren’t necessarily on his schedule radar four months ago.
“Naturally you have to (change your goals) because you can’t just settle with what you’ve got,” Yellamaraju said. “Now the aim is to just finish as high as possible (on the FedExCup standings) to pick and choose my schedule for next year.
“I’m just trying to play the best I can and if I can, it’s great. It not, we’ll just move on to the next thing.”
Yellamaraju’s story was well documented earlier this year as the Canadian learned to play by just watching YouTube videos of Tiger Woods and Adam Scott. His father did not play but would take him to an indoor dome in Winnipeg before they moved to Toronto when he was a youngster to practise hitting balls.
Yellamaraju did not go to college — with cost being a prohibiting factor — and instead turned pro at 19. He won on the Korn Ferry Tour last year to earn a PGA Tour card and has been off to the races ever since.
The Fried Egg, a popular golf website and podcast, did a video and story on Yellamaraju earlier this year and between that and a follow-up clip that was unearthed of him admitting one of his favourite Instagram follows was actor and model Sydney Sweeney, it’s been a fun ride for the Canadian.
“I only have Instagram and I can only see so much,” Yellamaraju said with a smile of pseudo-fame, “but I’m just trying to be the person I can be and if people are being nice about it, that’s great. I’m just trying to be me.”
The up-and-coming star will take another big step in his golfing life this week after making his major debut, but his golf has been tremendous to this point — he’s 18th on the PGA Tour in strokes gained: total — and is in such a comfortable place mentally and physically that it may not be a surprise to see him make a little noise come the weekend.
“Each week I’m trying to learn each course — this is no different,” Yellamaraju said. “This is the PGA Championship, but I’m just going to try my best and just play good golf.
“Naturally you feel tired some of the days, but I just need to keep reminding myself that I’m playing on the PGA Tour, in the biggest tournaments, and that’s what is motivating me to keep going.”