BATON ROUGE — LSU’s rising sophomore Sang Yi has enjoyed a fast start to his summer golf schedule while earning a narrow one-stroke victory last weekend in the Gateway Tour Summer Series tournament held at the Golf Club at Castle Hills in Lewisville, Texas.
After opening the tournament with a solid 2-under par 70 in the first round, Yi fired back-to-back rounds of 7-under par 65 to capture the title with a three-day, 54-hole score of 16-under 200.
Yi, who was the only amateur in the field to make the cut, defeated professional Kris Cox by one stroke as Cox fired a 15-under 201 in 54 holes. Scott Abbott and Nick Malinowski were four back in a tie for third place at 12-under 204, while four other golfers tied for fifth at 11-under 205.
In its eighth year of existence, the Gateway Tour is largest developmental golf tour in the world as it seeks to provide players an environment in which they can build the skills needed to compete on the PGA Tour. The Gateway Tour featured 71 tournaments in 2008 and paid nearly $7 million in total purses to its players throughout the season.
Yi is currently competing in the Spirit of America Amateur Championship, which kicked off this morning at Burning Tree Country Club in Decatur, Ala. The four-day event wraps up Sunday.