[PHOTOS: Getty Images]

The stars truly aligned for Asian golf during one glorious Sunday in October as three young talents, Kevin Yu of Chinese Taipei, China’s Wenyi Ding and Kaito Onishi of Japan [above], put an exclamation mark on the importance of the various global pathways that lead to the sport’s ultimate destination, the PGA Tour.

With golf sustaining its international growth following latest data by the R&A, where Asia remained as the leading region among R&A-affiliated regions for people engaging with the sport with a total adult engagement of 26.2 million, the multiple initiatives led by the PGA Tour are also beginning to bear its first fruits in recognising and accelerating the careers of aspiring young stars from the Far East.

A first case in point is Yu [above], who proudly became the first Asian graduate of the innovative PGA Tour University programme to win a PGA Tour event after his breakthrough victory at the Sanderson Farms Championship on October 6. Yu, 26, had graduated in fourth place on PGA Tour University in 2021 after a stellar amateur career at Arizona State University to earn Korn Ferry Tour status, before playing his way onto the PGA Tour the next season by finishing 20th on the KFT points list.

Recognising a gap that existed for non-US collegiate amateur players, the PGA Tour, along with the DP World Tour and R&A, subsequently launched the Global Amateur Pathway (GAP) earlier this year to run in parallel with PGA Tour University, and reward the top-ranked amateur with a DP World Tour card. Highly rated Ding of China became the first recipient of this exemption after cementing his GAP No.1 status after a stylish victory at the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship in Japan, coincidentally on the same day Yu triumphed in Mississippi.

Now, all eyes will be on Ding [above], whom some have touted as a potential major champion, if he will follow in Yu’s trail onto the PGA Tour via the DP World Tour route, which the top-10 players from its Race to Dubai ranking earn dual memberships on the PGA Tour annually. The young Chinese had to give up prized exemptions into next year’s Masters and Open Championship, but said he was confident of qualifying for those majors as a professional golfer.

There is an old saying that good things come in threes and Japan’s Onishi made sure of that by locking his top-30 status upon the conclusion of the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour season, also on October 6, to earn his PGA Tour card for next year. He will join compatriot Hideki Matsuyama, a 10-time tour winner, and Ryo Hisatsune on the world’s elite circuit and it will be a matter of time to see if Onishi, who moved to Los Angeles at age 9 to advance his sporting dreams, will realise his twin ambitions to become world No.1 and Masters champion.

As a 7-year-old, Yu, who is teeing up in this week’s Zozo Championship in Japan, learned to play the sport through his father, who was a teaching professional at a local driving range. He blossomed into a leading amateur and won the Asian Games gold medal in the team competition in 2014 as a 16-year-old when he became firm friends with one of his teammates, C.T. Pan. It was Pan who encouraged him to take the US collegiate route to advance his golf career which Pan, a one-time tour winner, spent four years at University of Washington. 

“The PGA Tour University programme provides a clear pathway to the Korn Ferry Tour and eventually the PGA Tour. This is an amazing opportunity. The system in the US is much more streamlined, giving players a faster track to the top,” said Yu, who became only the third golfer from Chinese Taipei after T.C. Chen and Pan to win on the PGA Tour.

For a while, Ding, who rose to third position on the World Amateur Golf Ranking, looked certain to take the PGA Tour University option after joining Arizona State University last year and establishing himself with a NCAA scoring record by posting a 27-under 189 total in a 54-hole event. He was also the first mainland Chinese player to win the US Junior Amateur in 2022, but he opted to turn professional via the newly established Global Amateur Pathway.

“The Global Amateur Pathway has given me an incredible opportunity,” said Ding, who finished tied for 11th in his professional debut on the European Challenge Tour’s Hangzhou Open on home soil last week. “It was a hard choice (to give up the major exemptions). But after consulting my family, I believe this will be the right decision. With the Global Amateur Pathway, it has also been really good for non-[US] collegiate players like me to make that decision.”

For Onishi, whose idol is three-time PGA Tour winner Shigeki Maruyama, the hard knocks endured on the Korn Ferry Tour toughened him up. As a rookie in 2023, he finished 100th to narrowly retain conditional status by 0.49 points, which ensured he remained as a KFT member. A subsequent top-10 at the Astara Golf Championship in February opened up his playing opportunities and he later won the UNC Health Championship, to essentially seal his maiden PGA Tour card. “It’s a dream come true,” said Onishi, who was in tears when he called his parents and Maruyama after earning his PGA Tour card. 

And more dreams will certainly be realised in the years to come, thanks to the various global pathways, both for amateurs and professionals alike, that form golf’s eco-system with the PGA Tour being at the centre of it all.

The writer is senior director, marketing & communications – APAC for the PGA Tour. Fans can watch the PGA Tour on Kayo.