GOTEMBA, JAPAN | Wenyi Ding had bottled up his emotions all week and moved around with a Zen-like demeanor. But, when the 4-foot comeback putt for par dropped for the victory on Sunday at the Asia-Pacific Amateur, he let out a guttural roar. Then, at the interview and the trophy presentation, he broke into tears at Taiheiyo Golf Club.
“This was my last event as an amateur, and to play this four times and finally win, it is great,” said the 19-year-old from Beijing, China. “I was very nervous at the last putt.”
Now when he had finally won it, he seemed to be caught in a cleft. At the press conference, he left the door ever so slightly open: “I don’t know. It is a big problem,” he said with a shy smile that seemed like indecision.
Barely 24 hours before winning, he disclosed to GGP that he would turn pro regardless.
If he sticks to his decision of turning pro, as is expected, he will have to decline the invitations to next year’s Masters and Open Championship that come with winning the Asia-Pacific Amateur.The road to pro golf is clear for him. He will be eligible for DP World Tour membership under the tour’s new global amateur pathway, announced in June. The best eligible non-collegiate male amateur within the top 20 of the World Amateur Golf Ranking receives a tour card for the next season. The key requirements:
1. The candidate must not be a current NCAA Division I player (in August, Ding removed himself from Arizona State’s roster);
2. Be at least age 20 by the end of the calendar year of the relevant ranking period, which was October 17, 2022, to October 13, 2024. (Ding will turn 20 on November 19.)
3. And Ding, at No. 5 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, is the highest eligible amateur.
The boxes have been ticked.
“Yes, it was a very difficult decision, whether to stay on in college or turn pro. This is a great chance [through the global amateur pathway], and I thought it was a great chance, so I decided to take it. ”
Wenyi Ding
The 6-foot-3 Ding walks slowly, but his steps are long and he seems to know where he wants to go. He made that clear even before teeing up at the APAC here at Taiheiyo, which features gorgeous Mount Fuji, which at 12,389 feet is Japan’s tallest peak, as a backdrop. But for most of the week, Fuji was not visible behind fog and clouds. Rain lashed the club, stealing 6½ hours of play. Ding kept shining through that damp weather.
Other than two bogeys on the front nine in Thursday’s opening round, Ding played near-flawless golf. He signed for bogey-free middle rounds and made only one misstep in the final round, a bogey at the par-4 11th hole. He shot four consecutive rounds of 3-under-par 67 for a 12-under 268 total and one-stroke victory against countryman Ziqin Zhou.
Zhou, an 18-year-old college freshman at Cal-Berkeley, entered the week at No. 126 in the WAGR. He already owns six top-three finishes on China’s pro tour.
The next two places went to the Japanese, with Rintaro Nakano third at 10-under and Reo Maruo fourth at 9-under.
On Saturday, standing near the clubhouse and watching the rain beat down on the Taiheiyo Golf Club, Ding exuded little emotion before his third round. About 30 minutes before he teed off, he was fine talking about his career crossroads.
“Yes, it was a very difficult decision, whether to stay on in college or turn pro,” said Ding, who won the Southern Amateur in July at Idle Hour in Lexington, Kentucky. “I spoke to many people: coach, friends, family and agent. For men players, it is tough to get a tour card. This is a great chance [through the global amateur pathway], and I thought it was a great chance, so I decided to take it.
“If I go to college and wait for that route to the PGA [Tour], it will take three years. But from here [on the DP World Tour], I can go to the PGA Tour also.”
He halted before adding: “If I can play well and keep my card, I can get to the PGA Tour [as one of the top 10 on the Europe-based tour]. That was my big goal. I can then get to the Masters and the Open if I play well.”
Until last year, Ding, like the other 119 players, competed in the APAC nursing the same dream. The goal was to open the gates to Augusta National and the Open. This time, considering his “declared” plans, Ding was seen as coming to finish an unfinished job.
Now that he has the trophy, which road will he take? The declared one, or will he change his mind again, as it seemed for a moment when he held the trophy in his hand and cried?
Last year, Ding lost to Australia’s Jasper Stubbs in a playoff for the APAC title at Royal Melbourne in Australia. Stubbs went to the Masters and the Open. Ding went to college in Tempe, Arizona.
Stubbs probably would have turned pro had he not won the APAC, but he prevailed and stayed amateur. He will turn pro this week in the Western Australia PGA Championship.
The fog and the clouds hiding Fuji have cleared, but will Ding’s mind be as clear as it seemed before the event? Doubts have arisen, only because his immediate goal was fulfilled.
Now we await the bigger call. It will come sooner than later.
* The 2025 Asia-Pacific Amateur will be played October 23-26 at Emirates Golf Club’s Majlis Course in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, officials announced. The course is the home of the DP World Tour’s annual Dubai Desert Classic.
RESULTS
Viswanathan “Swamy” Krishnaswamy
Grant Crowell fired matching 68s over the weekend to post a one-stroke victory in the National Links Trust Amateur at East Potomac Golf Course’s Blue layout in Washington, D.C.
Crowell, of Roswell, Georgia, shook off a bogey on his second hole Sunday to go a bogey-free 5-under the rest of the way and sign for a 4-under 68 and an 8-under 136 total.
Max Ullan of Blaine, Minnesota, and C.J. Wagner of nearby Arlington, Virginia, shared runner-up at 7-under 137.
Mia Zanghetti of the District of Columbia birdied her last two holes to shoot 2-under 70 in the final round and secure a three-stroke victory in the women’s division.
The tournament highlights the efforts of the National Links Trust, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, to promote accessible and affordable municipal golf.
Staff and wire report