The 2019 AGC Men's Player of the Year: Chun An Yu

January 1, 2020 | by AmateurGolf.com Staff

- Chun An Yu (ASU photo)

How do you win a points race? Winning yes, but also getting into contention over and over again in college, amateur and pro events

After a year in which he established himself as a consistent contender in college, amateur and professional events, Chun An Yu of Chinese Taipei is the AmateurGolf.com Men's Player of the Year.

The AmateurGolf.com Men's Player of the Year is awarded based on a point system earned through performance in major amateur events throughout the course of the year. The year, the 21-year-old Yu easily outdistanced all of his fellow competitors to earn the award.

AmateurGolf.com
Players of the Year

2019	Chun An Yu
2018	Viktor Hovland
2017	Braden Thornberry
2016	Curtis Luck
2015	Bryson DeChambeau
2014	Corey Conners
2013	Brady Watt
2012	Justin Thomas
2011	Patrick Cantlay
2010	Peter Uihlein
2009	Peter Uihlein
2008	Danny Lee

How do you get ranked ahead of the players you are competing against? By not letting many of them beat you. Yu might now have won all of his tournaments in 2019, but he finished high in most of them. He was constantly in contention whenever he teed it up, whether it was representing Arizona State or representing himself at the top amateur championships or even professional events.

In all, Yu had thirteen top-5 tournament finishes in 2019.

He started off the year in style, traveling to Australia and winning the prestigious Australian Master of the Amateurs at Royal Melbourne.

ICYMI (which you might have or you might have forgotten because freakin' Chez got three eagles) what a win for @kevingolfyu in Australia https://t.co/xqw7nZshEk @pac12 @Pac12Network pic.twitter.com/xra1Jb9FpN
— Sun Devil Men's Golf (@sundevilmgolf) January 12, 2019

He added a four-shot win at the ASU Thunderbird Invitational in April.

In nine spring college events against the deepest fields in college golf, Yu never finished worse than tied for 16th. He finished the year 2nd in the NCAA Stanford Regional and 3rd in the NCAA Championship. For his stellar junior season he was named 2019 GCAA First-Team All-American.

He then won his U.S. Open Sectional qualifier to make his second straight U.S. Open Championship at Pebble Beach where he missed the cut by three shots.

In the summer, he led the Porter Cup until the final round and ultimately finished as the runner-up. He then finished T18 at the Western Amateur.

Back at Arizona State for his senior season, Yu started out with a 3rd-place finish at the Maui Jim Invitational, and then traveled to China to compete in the Asia-Pacific Amateur where he finished 5th. After a couple of subpar performances for him (T33 and 28th place finishes), Yu again traveled back across the world, this time in a return trip to Australia, where he was the first-round leader at the Australian Open before eventually finishing tied for 5th in the professional event.

Final POY Points Standings, 2019

1	Chun An Yu	Chinese Taipei	9400
2	John Pak	Scotch Plains, NJ	6900
3	Davis Thompson	St. Simons, GA	6150
4	Andy Ogletree	Little Rock, MS	6100
5	Cole Hammer	Houston, TX	5800
6	Matthew Wolff	Agoura Hills, CA	5700
7	Spencer Ralston	Gainesville, GA	5650
8	Viktor Hovland	Norway	5600
9	Brandon Wu	Scarsdale, NY	5550
10	Trent Phillips	Inman, SC	5450

Finishing as the runner-up in the year-long points race was John Pak (Scotch Plains, N.J.) of Florida State, with the U.S. Amateur and Monroe Invitational champion Andy Ogletree (Little Rock, Miss.) fourth.

Davis Thompson (St. Simons, Ga.) of the University of Georgia and Cole Hammer (Houston, Texas) of the University of Texas rounded out the top five.

Three players racked up enough points to finish in the top 10 even though they turned pro in the summer: Matthew Wolff and last year's AGC Player-of-the-Year Viktor Hovland, who immediately found success on the PGA Tour after turning pro; and Brandon Wu, who helped Stanford win the NCAA Championship before becoming the first amateur in 52 years to open qualify for the U.S. and British Opens in the same year.

Related: The 2018 AGC Men's Player of the Year: Viktor Hovland

Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com World Rankings | Complete 2019 Points List (3078 players)

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