Two-Time AAC Winner Tops Asian Tour Q-School

Hua Hin, Thailand: Lin Yuxin, a two-time Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (AAC) winner, finished number one in class at the Final Stage of the Asian Tour’s Qualifying School – leading 35 players who secured their cards for the 2026 season.

After five days of blood, sweat and tears, left-handed Lin carded a closing four-under-par 67 to emerge victorious after a tight finish.

The 23-year-old finished with a tournament total of 16-under to win by one from Indian Shaurya Bhattacharya.

Lin, playing in the penultimate group, was tied with Bhattacharya playing the difficult par-four 18th at Hua Hin’s Lake View Resort & Golf Club. The Chinese golfer made par while Bhattacharya, in the last group, finished with a bogey.

Bhattacharya closed with a 72, while Canadian Henry Lee ended third, after shooting 70. Lee finished two behind the winner, frustratingly having made a double on the last. Mexico’s Roberto Lebrija (72) finished fourth and Australian Will Florimo (70) was fifth.

Victory by Lin at Lake View Resort & Golf Club’s C&D Course is a huge milestone for the highly-rated golfer who won the AAC in 2017 (in New Zealand) and 2019 (in Shanghai) and played college golf at the University of Florida.

Since turning professional in 2023, he’s been playing the PGA Tour Americas and some Korn Ferry Tour events, suffering putting issues, mainly ‘mental’ he says, holding him back.

There were no such issues this week, as he shot rounds of 68, 67, 70, 67 and 67. 

“It’s a great feeling to get through Q School. It’s one of the toughest tournaments in golf for any professional, so just fortunate enough to get in this week,” said Lee – who made an eagle, three birdies and one bogey today.

“I’ve been hitting it good all season, just been having trouble with the putter, mainly throughout the summer. I did some work on it during October and November, so the game has been feeling good for a while.”

On the transition to the professional game, he said: “It’s been tough. It’s a lot of ups and downs and I’ve just been trying to stay patient to be honest. I’ve learned a lot in the last few years after I turned pro. It’s been a good learning experience.”

Bhattacharya started the day leading by one and was in pole position for much of the round but was undone by bogeys on 12, 13, and 18. Nevertheless, it was an outstanding week for the 22-year-old who is currently third on the Professional Golf Tour of India Order of Merit with two wins.

He said: “It was a tough last day, but lot of positives. I made a lot of birdies, just that today I made too many bogeys. But looking at the positives, I made I think 27 birdies this week, which is a good number.

“I play a tournament to win, that’s my goal. Even if it’s a Q-School, I want to win. So, it was stress-free in the sense that the cut line wasn’t a factor, but I wanted to finish number one. I just couldn’t finish it off.”

Other notables to have safely made it through included South African Justin Harding, Thailand’s Itthipat Buranatanyarat, Indonesian Naraajie Ramadhanputra, Berry Henson from the United States, and Indians Rashid Khan and Ajeetesh Sandhu.

Chinese-Taipei’s Chan Shih-chang, Singaporean Gregory Foo, Hong Kong’s Jason Hak Shun-yat and Malaysian Khavish Varadan also qualified.

Shergo Al Kurdi made a 10-foot putt for par on the last to finish in a tie for 19th on six-under, becoming the first player from Saudi Arabia to make it through Final Stage.

As ever, the battle for the 35th card proved to be gripping. Twelve players ended in a sudden-death play-off for the last eight cards, after they finished on five-under in joint 28th.

Japan’s Tomohiro Ishizaka, who started the day in second but crashed to an 81 today, was one of those who was happy to survive the extra holes. He was joined by Carson Herron, son of former American PGA Tour star Tim Herron, Carlos Pigem from Spain, Welshman David Boote, Jin Zihao from China, Germany’s Marc Hammer, and Marcus Plunkett from Australia.

The play-off went to five holes with Shubham Jaglan from India the last to get in at the expense of Kelvin Si from Macau.