One year after falling short in a playoff at the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship at Royal Melbourne in Australia, Wenyi Ding made amends at Taiheiyo Club Gotemba in Japan. Carding four consecutive rounds of 67, the 19-year-old from China reached 12 under and claimed the 15th edition of the championship by one stroke over his fellow countryman Ziqin Zhou.
In addition to raising the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship trophy, the fifth-ranked amateur in the world secures exemptions into the 89th Masters, the 153rd Open at Royal Portrush and the 130th Amateur at Royal St. George’s.
“It feels really good. Last year, I lost in the playoff and just felt I couldn’t play any better. And this year I got the trophy, it’s amazing,” Ding said. “Before I played No. 17, I didn’t want to play for a birdie. I just wanted to save a par. I felt nervous on the birdie putt (on No. 18). I don’t know why, but it went 3 or 4 feet by. I was able to hole it.”
As the highest-ranked player in the field and having narrowly fallen on the second playoff hole a year ago, Ding entered the tournament as the favorite. He looked the part for the entire week — especially down the stretch — as he pulled three ahead after a chip-in birdie on No. 9.
Zhou made his presence known, however, as the University of California-Berkeley freshman momentarily tied Ding with a birdie on the par-5 18th. One hole behind, Ding struck one of his many impressive shots of the tournament as he hit the ball on the par-3 17th from nearly 240 yards settled inside 6 feet to set up what was ultimately the deciding birdie.
While Sunday’s performance was cause for celebration, it does not come without a difficult decision for Ding who has plans on turning professional as he is in line for a DP World Tour card via the new Global Amateur Pathway — which is similar to PGA Tour University.
“Before I played this, I can’t imagine I’m guaranteed to win this tournament,” Ding said. “So, I don’t know. It’s a problem … I think more likely I should take the card.”
The criteria for the card includes being at least 20 years old by the end of the calendar year (Ding turns 20 in November) and not being a current NCAA Division I player. After a stellar spring at Arizona State, Ding withdrew from the university to pursue his DP World Tour card through this new program which he all but locked up with his win at the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship.
By securing his playing privileges through this avenue, Ding can start playing as a professional on the DP World Tour as soon as this year beginning at the Australian PGA and Australian Open. However, since he plans on playing professionally, Ding will forfeit exemptions into the Masters and The Open which requires him to remain an amateur through April and July respectively.
“No matter what, I’m amateur or pro, I will still play the Masters and The Open,” Ding said. “So, if I can, I can make it later … This should give me a lot of confidence. I tried to play the DP World Tour last year, and I made some cuts. So, I know I can do better and try to learn to be a pro player.”
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