It’s been a winding and unconventional road for Sudarshan Yellamaraju to find the PGA Tour.
But after Sunday’s Korn Ferry Tour Championship – the season-finale on the developmental circuit – the 24-year-old is on his way to the biggest stage in the sport.
“All the hard work has paid off and I’m so looking forward to playing on the PGA Tour next year. It’s what I’ve always dreamt of doing,” Yellamaraju said at the Korn Ferry Tour Championship in Indiana.
Yellamaraju was born in India, but his family came to Canada when he was four, settling in Winnipeg. They moved to Mississauga when he was 11 and although he won the Ontario Amateur at 16, he did not attend college in the U.S. – citing the fact that he didn’t get enough money via scholarships to make it work.
Rajen Ruparell, the co-founder of the digital couponing website, Groupon, posted on X Sunday night that Yellamaraju’s father, Saresh, used to utilize Groupon deals in order to get access to local courses in order for his son to practice.
“For Mississauga, for Winnipeg, it feels really good. It shows that a lot of hard work and never giving up, you’ll get what you want. Your dreams will come true,” Yellamaraju said. “I didn’t go to college because I couldn’t afford it, but I also didn’t get the opportunities that I wish I could have gotten – but it doesn’t matter now.”
Yellamaraju turned pro at 19 and broke through in a big way in 2025, winning The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic at The Abaco Club, the second event of the Korn Ferry Tour season. He had three other top-10 finishes on the season, including a T3 and a solo fourth in a three-week stretch in the summertime.
Heading into the final event of the Korn Ferry Tour season, Yellamaraju was sitting at No. 20 in the season-long points list, with just the top 20 earning PGA Tour cards for 2026.
He had a pedestrian start to the season finale, shooting a 1-over 73 in the opening round. He got it back to even par through 36 holes and was 1 under after Saturday. Yellamaraju had an ideal start Sunday, going 3 under for his first four holes. He bogeyed two of the final five holes on his front nine before adding two more birdies on Nos. 10 and 11.
Yellamaraju very nearly gave it all back, however, as the final round wore on. He bogeyed Nos. 14-16 and at one point, was actually projected outside the top 20.
The player who did end up finishing 20th in the standings, however, did Yellamaraju a solid. Pontus Nyholm, who entered the week at 18th, went 5 over for his final seven holes to tumble down the leaderboard. Alas, he still locked up the final PGA Tour card and Yellamaraju was long in the clear.
“I just wanted to play good shots and that’s all I wanted to do. I was playing well. I didn’t have a good finish, but it doesn’t matter – I got my card,” Yellamaraju said.
At 24, Yellamaraju will be Canada’s youngest PGA Tour member. He will be one of 12 Korn Ferry Tour graduates from 2025 who will be a PGA Tour rookie in 2026 and received a congratulatory note on social media from Nick Taylor.
Yellamaraju’s win in the Bahamas at the beginning of the year set the tone for the balance of 2025 as the Canadian set the scoring record at the event of seven shots. There were only 20 PGA Tour cards available this year – as compared to 30 the last two seasons – and Yellamaraju knew every shot counted even more than usual in 2025.
After finishing 99th on the Korn Ferry Tour points list last year, he had to return to the tour’s qualifying school in the fall but moved all the way up to final stage where he finished tied for 36th. By finishing inside the top 40, Yellamaraju earned eight guaranteed starts in 2025. It took him two to lock up status for the rest of the year.
And it took him just eight months to earn a promotion to the PGA Tour – the place he’s always dreamed of being.
“Just playing against the best players in the world, just like I’ve always wanted to do, and playing all the great courses I’ve seen on TV,” Yellamaraju said of what he’s most looking forward to in 2026. “It’s going to be awesome.”
Yellamaraju is mostly self-taught, watching golf on TV, hitting range balls at an indoor golf dome in Winnipeg, and learning the game via YouTube.
Derek Ingram, the head coach of the men’s Golf Canada squad, says Yellamaraju hits it long and straight and has a great short game – which should do wonders for him on the PGA Tour next year.
“He’s highly skilled through deliberate hard work,” Ingram tells Sportsnet.ca. “He had a unique path, but his family completely bought into his path.”
A path that’s now led to the PGA Tour.