For a long time in the early hours of this morning, one of Yuan Yechun's hands had touched the first light tour championship trophy in his life...
This is the first tournament of the 2022 Korn Ferry Tour, the leading group in the final round of the Grand Exuma Classic, Yuan Yichun jumped to the single lead after grabbing 3 birdies on the first nine holes, and has a 2-stroke advantage! As long as he can survive the Bahamian sea breeze and finish nine holes, he can win his first crown in three years of joining the PGA Tour's second division.
Unfortunately, the attacking firepower of the Chinese brother was suddenly muted at the crucial moment, the 11th and 13th holes, the last two par three holes, he also made consecutive mistakes, dropped the bar twice, thus giving up the flag of the first crown to the 19-year-old Indian-American rising star Akshay Bhatia , who slashed 3 birds on the last 4 holes, and came up in the storm to win the final champion of the light tour opener.
Yuan Yechun once led by 2 strokes on the final day
As the last player to finish the game, Yuan Yichun can only relegate to a tie for 3rd place, which is the fifth time in his 55-game light tour career that he has ranked in the top 3. Dalian Kid, who will turn 25 years old in eight weeks, will still be the only title he has won on the Professional Tour so far, which can only be traced back to the Qingdao Championship at the 2018 PGA TOUR China – when Yuan Was still an amateur player...
After three years of career without a crown, he and Chinese mainland the identity of the number one golfer, which is a little bit "contrary to". To be fair, Yuan Yechun is not experiencing a "champion drought" – don't forget, he was a well-known individual gold medalist in the men's golf final of the 14th National Games last year! In terms of gold content, it is not even less than a national open champion. However, on the professional tour stage, especially in the high-level arena of the PGA TOUR second division, Yuan Yichun has always won a victory in the case of creating opportunities to take the lead many times, which has made the majority of domestic fans who care about him anxious.
Fortunately, he himself still maintains his consistent positive energy and is full of confidence in the future. On Weibo after the Battle of the Bahamas, a Chinese brother called for himself:
"The first race of the year ended with T3, believing that I was getting closer and closer"
It is reassuring to note that this year's single-stop prize money for the Light Tour was raised by 25%, and Yuan Yichun finished third, thus winning him $35,750 (about 226,820 yuan), an 8th-richest prize check in his career. In the world rankings, this 3rd place is also a timely and powerful response by Yuan Yichun to the "China One Brother Defense War", and he is expected to rise sharply from the 370th to the top 300 or so - which means that Li Haotong, who has narrowed the gap between the two to only 14 places, must reach the top 8 in the DP Tour Abu Dhabi Championship this week to complete the surpassing of Yuan Yechun.
Crucially, of course, Yuan yichun won a valuable 145 Korn Ferry Tour points, which allowed him to start the 2022 journey from no. 3 in the PGA Tour season standings, which is about impacting the PGA Tour.
If Yuan can remain in the top 25 of the Light Tour standings at the end of the regular season on August 14, he will automatically qualify for promotion to the 2022/23 PGA Tour! Judging from the "safety line" of the top 25 points of 774-776 points in the past year, he can reach the PGA Tour if he can score almost 630 points in the next 22 races , that is, an average of 29th place per game.
Is this a difficult task for Dalian Boy? Don't forget, in the whole of 2021, Yuan Yechun only played 13 light tour matches, but won as many as 704 points! In other words, if it were not for the New Year's Eve format adopted by the Light Tour because of the epidemic, Yuan Yechun last year would have already ensured that the PGA Tour tickets were in hand. And this morning's Tie for 3rd place in the Bahamas is already the fifth time he has reached the top ten in the last 12 light tour games – if he maintains such a fiery feel, coupled with a perfect start to the season, it seems that it is only a matter of time before the Chinese brother upgrades the PGA Tour.
Yuan Yechun has scored in the top ten in the last 12 light patrols 5 times
"My goal was to finish in the top five, after all, it has been a long time since I participated in the Light Tour." In an official interview after the game, Yuan Yechun said, "I hope that from this beginning, I can find good momentum for the next game." I know exactly what other parts of myself need to be improved. In the past, I used to play raw, but now I have changed to fade, hoping to make myself more stable and ensure that the kick-off can be more on the fairway. The results show that I am on the right path. ”
Yuan Yechun's "long time" naturally refers to the fact that in June last year, under the excellent situation of ranking 27th in the season standings, he had to interrupt the light tour journey due to his participation in the Tokyo Olympic Games and the National Games, return to Asia to isolate, train, and participate in the competition, at the expense of a two-year season to impact the PGA Tour, and finally represented China in the Olympic Games, and won the gold medal for the Hainan team.
Yuan Yechun pressed Li Haotong wu Ashun and won the individual gold medal at the National Games
How to choose between collective interests and individual interests is a difficult problem faced by many Chinese players in the past year. The price paid in the meantime is geometric, presumably only Yuan Yechun is cold and warm and self-aware. Perhaps as Yuan Yechun said during the Olympic Games: "There are some sacrifices that must be made." Being able to compete for my country at the Quadrennial Olympics is a unique experience. I will never regret doing so. “
Of course, at the time, he also said that he hoped that after he returned to the United States, he would be able to try some Monday qualifying games on the PGA Tour and other ways to fight for opportunities for himself as much as possible. Before the opening match of this week's light tour, Yuan Yechun participated in the most recent game, which was last November's PGA TOUR RSM Classic, when he successfully broke through the brutal Monday qualifying tournament and won himself the opportunity to participate in the local PGA TOUR for the first time, although he ultimately failed to qualify, Dalian Boy still motivated himself with positive energy on Weibo: "I still enjoy this opportunity!" ”
Yuan Yechun made the start of the new season
Time and time again, he is creating opportunities for himself to win the championship; one minute and one second, he is only racing against the clock, trying to find the lost world. In 2022, can Yuan Yechun get his wish? Maybe as he himself said– he was on the right path.
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