‘Phenom’ returns home to Winnipeg to compete in the Manitoba Open

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/08/2022 (1334 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Sudarshan Yellamaraju has come a long way from the little kid who first picked up a plastic club in Winnipeg, took his first swings at The Golf Dome during a frigid Prairie winter and got his first membership at Larters in St. Andrews.

Now 21 and filled with confidence following the best performance of his professional career, the PGA Tour Canada member is hoping this week might bring a happy homecoming of sorts as competes in the Manitoba Open for the first time.

“Obviously coming back here I see the same street I used to live on (in St. Vital), all the same places. It’s definitely a bit of a homey vibe,” Yellamaraju told the Free Press on Thursday after a deluge of rain delayed the start of the four-day tournament until Friday morning. He’ll get his first round going when he tees off at 2:30 p.m.

Born in India, Yellamaraju and his parents immigrated to Winnipeg when he was four. They spent the next seven years here before moving to their current home in Mississauga, due to his father’s work in the IT sector. And while he’s officially viewed as an Ontario product, he’s the closest thing to a local product currently on tour now that Stony Mountain’s Aaron Cockerill is playing full-time in Europe.

“Obviously the fact we’re in Winnipeg, once I saw that was on the schedule after not being played the last couple years, I thought that was cool. Going back to (his childhood home),” said Yellamaraju. “From a golf point of view, I’m just trying to treat it the same, just trying to play my best.”

His bond with Manitoba remains strong, especially considering how he got his start in the sport here.

“I was always a restless kid. I was always very active and couldn’t stay still. My parents would put on golf and, for whatever reason, I would just be zoned in,” he said with a laugh. His primary focus, like so many viewers during the early 2000s, was Tiger Woods.

Yellamaraju suspects there was more than just the dominant play by the world’s No. 1 at the time which caught his eye, but the fact Woods didn’t look like most of the other competitors in an extremely Caucasian sport.

“It was nice obviously knowing that anybody can play the game, no matter who you are or where you’re from,” he said.

Yellamaraju quickly went from a keen observer to an active participant while attending St. Emile School, his parents buying him a left-handed Nike set modelled after his famous idol.

“I just really enjoyed playing. Obviously at a young you’re always thinking you want to be the best golfer, but it wasn’t really an aspiration (to make it his career) until I was like 15 or 16,” he said.

The big breakthrough came in 2017 at the Ontario Amateur when, as the youngest player in the field at just 16, he sunk a 15-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole to win by a single stroke. That led to some to declare him a “teenage phenom,” which was even more impressive for a guy who, to this day, still doesn’t have a skills coach and is mainly self-taught.

“Obviously that was a huge achievement for me,” said Yellamaraju.

With his parents support and encouragement, Yellamaraju decided to forgo university or college and turn pro last year, playing on the modified Canadian tour against only national competition during a second straight COVID-impacted season. He began this full 2022 campaign with conditional status after finishing 20th at qualifying school, meaning he wasn’t guaranteed a spot in any specific event. Two weeks ago, he had to Monday qualify just to get in the Quebec Open, then turned that opportunity into a sixth-place finish by finishing 12-under for the tournament.

“One good day, one good week can change your life,” Yellamaraju said of life as a professional golfer. “I had a good feeling on that course, and I just took that and had a good week.”

He jumped from 121st to 46th in the Fortinet Cup standings, which got him automatic entry into this week, along with the final three events of the year. It also gives him some breathing room by locking up his card for next year.

Although he’d never played this version of Southwood until a practice round earlier this week — the course didn’t exist when he was growing up — Yellamaraju figures there might be a good omen. It’s a Thomas McBroom design, same as the Ambassador Golf Club in Windsor where he won the Ontario Amateur.

He’s not the biggest hitter on tour, but his short game markedly improved this season. As the old saying goes, drive for show, putt for dough. Yellamaraju said he still relies on those early lessons learned growing up in Winnipeg when it came to golf and a calm mindset.

“I used to just live and die by each shot. But in the last five or six years when I’ve been taking it more seriously, it’s learning how to control those emotions and be very specific,” he said.

Having his parents around to calm his nerves has helped, too. They’re travelling the country with him this summer, and his father, Suresh, is also caddying for him while his mother, Meera, cheers on from behind the ropes.

“It’s very nice. He can provide that second set of eyes. He knows the game a little bit, so he can help,” said Yellamaraju.”Financially they were helping me throughout, and they still are. They’ve been supportive for sure. I definitely wouldn’t be here without them.”

Now his focus is on where he can go next, with the goal of ultimately making it to the same tour that Tiger used to dominate. He’s buoyed by the recent success of other Canadian golfers such as Corey Conners, Mackenzie Hughes, Adam Hadwin, Nick Taylor and Taylor Pendrith, who are all making waves on the big stage.

“It’s inspiring,” said Yellamaraju. “I want to be winning on the PGA Tour, that’s my ultimate goal. It’s not as long as it seems, in the sense that if I can continue playing well on this tour, then move up to the Korn Ferry, it’s not very far. But it’s going to be long mentally and physically.”

Perhaps some added comfort this week in the place he once called home will help bring him a bit closer.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg