What’s the point in not being resilient and giving up?
It’s a question Sudarshan Yellamaraju recently served back to reporters after placing T-5 at The Players Championship.
For Yellamaraju, resilience is indeed a natural thing — which was the root of the exchange, so much so that the 24-year-old PGA Tour rookie said he’d never be able to forgive himself for giving up on a round.
“There’s no excuse to not have focus for the four or five hours that you play, especially if this is your job and this is what you want to do,” he said.
And that’s the driving force behind one of the hottest names on Tour.
Yellamaraju learned the game on YouTube after moving to Canada when he was 4. He played golf outdoors just three months a year in frigid Winnipeg.
Even though he was taught how to swing an iron by videos of Adam Scott and Rory McIlroy — now officially his peers — Yellamaraju is so focused on playing that he doesn’t even realize that his childhood idols are passing by him in the clubhouse or going through the same exact 72-hole strain.
“This week with the fans and the whole atmosphere, it kind of sunk in a little bit more for sure,” he told the media after his 4-under 68 on Sunday at TPC Sawgrass.
Yellamaraju grinded to make the cut at The Players. He was 1 over heading into the weekend, and used a 6-under 66 in the third round to help carry him up the leaderboard to a $925,000 cut of the tournament’s $25M purse.
“I want to win every tournament, but that’s not realistically possible,” he said. “I just wanted to play one shot at a time, play the best golf that I could. I stayed patient. I fought until the very end and never gave up, and that’s all I could wish for.”
Patience and focus, mixed with a splash of ingenuity on top of a bed of dedication. It’s the makings of a possible star.
Yellamaraju, who’s made six of seven cuts this season including a pair of top-20 finishes at the Sony Open and the Cognizant Classic, would likely reject ever hearing that word. For now, he’s at the very least created a reason for fans to follow — and they’ve answered the call.
“When I had that run of birdies [Saturday], the crowd kind of cheering me on, keeping me motivated even when I was kind of feeling a little tired or losing energy,” he said to his newfound fans on the course. “And then today, same thing, just on 17 that was pretty cool. I kind of just wanted to enjoy the moment.”