The Island air seems to please Yi Cao. The Tsawwassen resident led the PGA Tour sa国际传媒 Royal Beach Victoria Open presented by the sa国际传媒 after the second round Friday at Uplands Golf Club with a 10-under total of 130.
That comes after Cao, who moved to sa国际传媒 from China at age 15, won the sa国际传媒 Life Series tournament on Bear Mountain during the pandemic-abbreviated season of 2020. That result, and the three others on the sa国际传媒 Life Series that year, earned Cao a berth in the RBC Canadian Open, which returns next week at St. George’s in Toronto following a two-year pandemic absence.
That will be Cao’s third PGA Tour start after having played in the 2016 and 2018 World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions events in Shanghai because of exemptions won on the PGA Tour China and points earned in the China Golf Association.
“I had a pretty solid day today,” said Cao, 31, who said he was helped out by having his coach caddy for him.
“It’s awesome and great in that we have been working together 10 years. He knows me better than anybody other than my dad,” added Cao, in his PGA Tour sa国际传媒 interview.
“We have just random conversations and have a good time out there and not caring about the leaderboard and just keeping my head down. I think I got lucky here and there. It was nothing dramatic. Just solid whole-day play.”
In second place at 9-under was Joey Savoie, who won the low-round trophy at Bear Mountain two years ago. The native of La Prairie, Que., out of NCAA Middle Tennessee State, represented sa国际传媒 in the 2019 Lima Pan Am Games and was Canadian amateur golfer of the year in 2018 and competed in the RBC Canadian Open that year.
Top Island golfers were Maxwell Sear of Royal Colwood, tied for 20th at 5-under 135, Jeevan Sihota of Gorge Vale tied for 38th at 4-under and Riley Wheeldon of Comox, tied for 48th at three-under.
The cut was 3-under and it didn’t look attainable for Sihota after his 2-over in the first round Thursday. He spent several hours after his opening round practicing relentlessly and it paid off as he climbed a second-round second-best 77 spots.
“Yeah, I spent a while out there after my first round, figuring out the irons,” said Sihota, who turned down more than 60 NCAA Div. 1 offers to turn pro.
“The more the practice, the more the focus. I stayed patient and kept grinding. I’m so happy to be out here. I’m only 18 and glad to be getting the experience,” Sihota told said.
The scary thing is three of Sihota’s putts Friday just lipped out or he would have shot 61.
The golfers this week are trying to follow in the footsteps of the likes of the top-two finishers of the last normal pre-pandemic Victoria Open in 2019 as winner Paul Barjon and runner-up Doc Redman both went on to the PGA Tour. They are part of a total of 54 PGA Tour sa国际传媒 alumni to have advanced to play on the PGA Tour since 2013 with 16 PGA Tour victories between them. More than 250 PGA Tour sa国际传媒 alumni have gone onto play on the Korn Ferry Tour, one step from the PGA Tour, since 2013 with 50 victories between them.
The golfers this season are chasing the full-season exemption into the 2023 Korn Kerry Tour for the top placer in the 2022 PGA Tour sa国际传媒 Fortinet Cup season points standings, with the second-through-fifth-place finishers earning selected provisional starts on the 2023 Korn Ferry Tour. The top-two season finishers, and top Canadian, on the PGA Tour sa国际传媒 this year will also earn exemptions into the 2023 RBC Canadian Open.
“It’s an exciting Tour because there’s an opportunity to make the Korn Ferry Tour,” said Scott Stevens, who was in a seven-way tie for third place at 8-under.
“So you’re playing for a little bit more than just money here because the ultimate goal is the PGA Tour,” the 2019 graduate of the NCAA Div. 1 University of South Carolina Fighting Gamecocks told the Times Colonist.
The Royal Beach Victoria Open, which opens the 11-event 2022 PGA Tour sa国际传媒 season, continues with the third round Saturday and final round Sunday.
