From India to Canada to the Players Championship without a golf lesson

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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Next time a parent tells their child to get their nose out of a device and do something more productive, they might be reminded of the story of Sudarshan Yellamaraju.

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The Canadian PGA Tour rookie, who learned the game by watching YouTube, conquered TPC Sawgrass on Saturday with a bogey-free 66 to reach five-under for the week and fly up the leaderboard at the Players Championship. At the conclusion of the third round, he was in a group tied for 19th place, eight strokes behind leader Ludvig Aberg.

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Asked what part of his game he was most pleased with, the answer was simple: “Everything.”

“Four straight birdies was pretty cool,” he added.

No golf lessons. No college. Born in India. Raised in Canada. On golf’s biggest stage.

Yellamaruja has taken one of the most unlikely, incomprehensible paths to the pinnacle of the sport. Yet, listening to him, none of the journey seems the least bit surprising to him. He is well-spoken, sharp, and exudes a maturity beyond his 24 years.

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“You’re not going to get many tougher courses than this,” he told Postmedia after Saturday’s round. “And if I can shoot this type of round like I did and stay in control like I did, that’s pretty good and I can do it anywhere. But golf is golf and you never know what might happen tomorrow so you just have to stay focused and play the best I can.”

That answer could have come from any PGA Tour pro, but the rest of his story can not.

After emigrating with his family from India to Winnipeg at age four, Sudarshan took up golf at six years old at the local golf dome where he used rental clubs to introduce himself to the sport. Golf domes anywhere, let alone in Winnipeg, are rarely known for the quality of their rental sets, which Yellamraju described as heavy men’s clubs with tiny heads.

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After getting his own set at nine years old, he entered his first tournament. Two years later, the family moved to Mississauga. By 16 years old, he was the Ontario Amateur Champion. At 19, he skipped the U.S. college route and turned pro.

With no golf lessons.

“I’d just watch YouTube videos of Tiger, Rory, Adam Scott, anybody really,” he said. “I’d watch on TV too, but when you’re watching live you can’t really stop it and watch it over and over. I just like to watch various players and just find little tidbits to see what I can do and just feel it out and see what works for me.”

So that’s what Sudarshan and his father Suresh did. Over and over. Day by day. Video after video. Trying to learn the world’s most frustrating game all on their own by watching YouTube.

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“I’d watch how on the range they’re hitting in a certain way and on the course they are hitting it a different way. Me and my dad, we just learnt the game that way, it was a lot of trial and error, that’s what it was,” he said. “Some things worked, some things didn’t. And we had to figure out what parts of the swing worked for me.”

Sudarshan wasn’t drawn to instructional videos, preferring to watch Tiger Woods and company in tournaments or on the driving range. There was no schedule, no particular plan. Just the knowledge that somewhere in these videos were answers.

“Like I said, a lot of trial and error, just watching videos and from there I’d take a club and try to do what I saw and see how it feels for me. That would be at home,” he said. “And then at the course or on the range I’d try to remember those things and implement them and see how it goes and feels, and see what works.”

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No lessons. Ever. To this day. Not even now that he’s on the PGA Tour with two top-20 finishes and access to the greatest minds in a sport that has become dominated by technology and obsessed with quantifying every aspect of the swing.

“Nope, nope,” he said about still never having had a lesson or a coach. Allowing himself a small laugh when he saw his slightly stunned interviewer.

“Yeah, I mean I’m a feel player,” he added. “So, I know if I’m hitting one direction too much I’m just going to figure out how to change it. Or some days you just figure out you’re playing one shot shape more than usual, and you just have to stick with it.

“Also at the same time, on the range is on the range, and on the course is what matters. And on the course you’re going to have to play all sorts of different shots. How you’re hitting it on the range doesn’t really matter.”

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How Yellamaraju was hitting it on the course on Saturday’s front nine was just about perfect, making four consecutive birdies to inject some excitement into the gallery during the early portion of moving day at the tour’s flagship event.

“I think especially because Scottie (Scheffler) was playing in front of me and Rory was a couple groups behind so there was a lot of people out there,” He said. “And I think they saw I was playing well and stuck around to watch.”

In some ways this week is a home game for Yellamaraju, who rents an apartment in nearby Jax Beach, which might be the first normal part of his PGA Tour journey. But the rest of the story of the unlikely Canadian rookie is a breath of fresh air in a sport that can, at times, get a little stuffy.

“I hadn’t played my best game all year so far and I just had to stay patient and today I finally felt good,” He said. “Now I just have to keep it going.”

In this age of YouTube golf creating media stars, a Sudarshan Yellamaraju Road to the PGA Tour video lesson plan could be worth millions. But for now, the playlist will stay between him and his father.

“I don’t really like or subscribe to any videos,” he said. “I just know which ones I want to see.”

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