Asia-Pacific Amateur champion Wenyi Ding has confirmed his immediate plans to leave college and give up two guaranteed starts at Majors in 2025 in favor of turning pro on the DP World Tour.
Ding claimed the biggest title of his career so far at the Taiheiyo Club in Gotemba, Japan on Sunday, defeating fellow countryman Ziqin Zhou by one stroke after four consecutive rounds of 67 (-3) left him on 12-under. This victory arrived in dramatic circumstances, too - 12 months on from defeat to Jasper Stubbs in a playoff - with Ding holing a birdie putt on his 71st hole to take the outright lead.
The former US Junior champion's latest triumph earned him the right to tee it up at The Masters, The Open Championship, and The Amateur Championship in 2025, but he will have to qualify for the Majors another way after revealing he was sticking to his pre-tournament promise of turning pro and joining the DP World Tour with immediate effect via the Global Amateur Pathway route.
Launched in June, the Global Amateur Pathway offers one DP World Tour card to the "leading non-collegiate golfer" - someone who is not a current NCAA Division-I player and turns 20 years old before the end of the calendar year. Ding is currently 19 but turns 20 in November.
While he currently fits into the criteria, that will not be the case for much longer. Ding enjoyed a superb freshman campaign at ASU - the former college of Phil Mickelson and Jon Rahm - and is set to move up among the very best college players out there.
In just his second appearance for the Sun Devils, Ding won the Amer Ari Invitational by nine strokes on 27-under - a college record. Meanwhile, he scored three more top-five finishes in seven starts. The 19-year-old also triumphed at the Southern Amateur in July to reach World No.4 in the WAGR, and he will now move even higher after reaching the top of the Global Amateur Pathway ranking.
Even before his win in Japan, Ding confirmed to Golf Digest that he was going to turn pro no matter what happened at the Asia-Pacific Amateur - arguing that the opportunity to begin his professional career in such solid circumstances outweighed the prospect of waiting months for two potentially one-off starts.
He said: "I was really struggling to choose this one. I talked a lot with my coaches, with my friends, my agent. I think it's really hard to get a [tour] card for a young player. This was probably the only chance [at the pathway], and I should take it.”
He continued: "Yeah, it was difficult, but I can’t sacrifice [DP World Tour status] to wait for the Masters [and Open]. I know it's a great [opportunity] for an amateur player, but I'm going to turn pro.
"[Hopefully], I can get in [those two majors] by myself. [I want to] learn how to be a professional player and keep improving. I want to try to make the cut at every tournament and, if I have a chance, try to win.”
As it turned out, the top-ranked player in the APAC field did have to give up those two Majors starts in 2025. Explaining to Amanda Renner during his post-round interview on Sunday what was going through his head all week - an emotional Ding admitted he always knew what the end goal was and used that to spur him on.
Hear from our champion 🏆An emotional moment as Wenyi Ding realises he's the 2024 Asia-Pacific Amateur Champion. pic.twitter.com/mtca4N2eG0October 6, 2024
He said: "This means a lot. It's my last amateur event, and if I play badly then I probably lose my card for the DP World Tour. So there was a lot of pressure. No player can feel no pressure in a tournament, so this has been awesome."
Ding continued: "I'm really grateful for this tournament. I told myself 'it's your last one, you have to be good.'"
The Chinese golfer follows a similar path to Christo Lamprecht, the 6ft8in South African golfer who won The Amateur Championship in 2023 and who competed at The Masters earlier this year before turning pro and losing his spot at the US Open as a result.
Lamprecht joined the Korn Ferry Tour in 2024 but struggled overall and ended the season 140th after missing seven cuts out of the 10 events he appeared in.
