Tag: Global Amateur Pathway ranking

Wenyi Ding officially turns pro after earning DP World Tour card via Global Amateur Pathway ranking

The next wave of talent turned pro Wednesday.

Wenyi Ding has officially turned pro.

That has been the plan all along, but it became reality Wednesday morning, as the 19-year-old star from China turned professional, earning his DP World Tour card for the 2025 season thanks to his standing in the Global Amateur Pathway ranking.

The DP World Tour, PGA Tour and the R&A launched GAP to provide direct access to professional golf for the world’s best non-collegiate amateurs. Ding, who left Arizona State this fall after only one semester with the team, won the Asia-Pacific Amateur two weeks ago, but is passing up on the major championship exemptions to immediately join the professional ranks.

“I’m excited to start my journey as a professional and look forward to teeing it up on the DP World Tour next season,” Ding said in a release. “The Global Amateur Pathway has given me an incredible opportunity, and my thanks go to the DP World Tour, the R&A and the PGA Tour for supporting me and my fellow amateur players to reach their goals.”

Ding, who turns 20 next month, will make his pro debut this week in his home country on the Challenge Tour’s Hangzhou Open in Hangzhou, China. His DP World Tour debut is expected in Australia in late November.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C5GgMJkL7Wu/

Ding wasn’t the only amateur to benefit from the GAP. Also earning European Challenge Tour exemptions were Jacob Skov Olesen, Luis Masaveu and Bastian Amat. Meanwhile, Peter Fountain, Jake Hall, Nathan Petronzio, and Ben Warian earned PGA Tour Americas membership for the 2025 Latin America swing.

“The Global Amateur Pathway is a key component of the pathways system we’ve developed on the DP World Tour, in collaboration with our partners at The R&A and PGA Tour,” Guy Kinnings, the DP World Tour’s chief executive, said. “It brings together the best global talent and provides them with a worldwide platform to showcase their abilities. Congratulations to Wenyi Ding on becoming the inaugural winner, setting a high standard for future stars to follow, and we look forward to welcoming him to the DP World Tour next season.”

As for Ding, he’s looking forward to his professional journey, which begins close to home Thursday.

“I’m excited for the tournament, but for me I feel normal and just want to play well,” he said.

Why Asia-Pacific Amateur champion Wenyi Ding is likely to pass on Masters, Open Championship exemptions

“I think more likely I should take the card.”

Wenyi Ding picked up one of the biggest wins of his life Sunday.

The 19-year-old from China, who won the USGA’s 2022 U.S. Junior Amateur at Bandon Dunes, captured the 2024 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship at Taiheiyo Club Gotemba in Japan, carding four consecutive rounds of 3-under 67 to claim the title by one shot over fellow countryman Ziqin Zhou, a freshman at California. Ding, ranked fifth in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, earned exemptions into the 2025 Masters and 2025 Open Championship with the win, but he’s planning to pass on them.

The reason why? He’s likely turning pro before the end of the year to earn his DP World Tour card.

“Before I played this, I can’t imagine I’m guarantee(d) to win this tournament,” Ding said Sunday. “So, I don’t know. It’s a problem.

“I think more likely I should take the card.”

A follow-up question was then asked about when that would happen, and Ding said maybe next week.

Wenyi Ding of China lifts the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship trophy after winning the 2024 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship being played at the Taiheiyo Club in Gotemba, Japan on Sunday 6 October 2024. Photograph by AAC.

Ding, who withdrew from Arizona State before the fall after playing the spring with the Sun Devils, is No. 1 in the Global Amateur Pathway ranking, which rewards the top non-collegiate amateur every year with a DP World Tour card. To be eligible, a player must “not be a current NCAA Division-I player” and “be at least 20 years of age by the end of the calendar year.” Ding turns 20 in November.

The winner of the Asia-Pacific Amateur gets an exemption into the two major championship, with the caveat the player remains an amateur. However, Ding sounds confident he will find his way to both Augusta National and golf’s oldest major in due time.

“No matter what, I’m amateur or pro, I will still play the Masters and The Open. So if I can, I can make it later,” he said.

Last year, Ding fell in a playoff to Jasper Stubbs at Royal Melbourne to lose the Asia-Pacific Amateur. This time around, in what could be his final event as an amateur, he picked up his latest signature win and proved his worth of the professional opportunities waiting for him.

He was asked whether there would be any regrets to passing on the exemptions, to which he answered: “A person can have a lot of regrets. When I was 14, I won the amateur event in China for three years, and every time you win, you got the Volvo China Open. But the call didn’t come. So it’s hard.”

Only time will tell if and when Ding will tee it up in the major championships.