Ding will take pass on Masters, Open
Asia-Pacific Am winner will take DPWT card instead; Stray Shots on Rocco, Road Rage and Rors
China’s Wenyi Ding won right to play in both the 2025 Masters and Open. (Courtesy AAC)
Wenyi Ding kept pecking away at the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship until he got it just right. Who knew winning and getting invited to the next Masters and Open Championship, however, would create “a problem” for the 19-year-old from China.
“I really like this tournament,” Ding said after shooting four consecutive 67s to win by one shot over fellow Chinese golfer Ziqin Zhou at Taiheiyo Golf Club in Japan. “I’ll tell you a story. The first time I play in Shanghai (2019), I got 7‑over for nine holes, so I was really nervous. I can’t control myself. I just want to make the cut.
“Second time, I played in Thailand (2022). I think I was only one or two strokes behind the leader after three rounds. Melbourne (2023), I got into the playoff and this year, I won. Every year, I improved a little and try to be a stronger player.”
Ding, who has ranked as high as No. 4 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, earned the ultimate perk for amateurs by winning the Asia-Pacific — invitations to compete in both the Masters and British Open in 2025. It’s a big deal and one of the big reasons Augusta National Golf Club led the way in launching the APAC in 2009 in order to identify talent in an underrepresented region and let them shine on the biggest stage in golf. Ding is the fourth Chinese player to win the Asia-Pacific with the opportunity to join Tianling Guan (2013), Cheng Jin (2016) and Yuxin Lin (2018 and 2020) as Masters competitors.
Ding, however, called his winning the Asia-Pacific Amateur “a problem.” The 22-year-old former Arizona State golfer decided to pass up his chance to play at Augusta National and Royal Portrush in 2025 and turn professional instead — a decision he made before the Asia-Pacific event started.
“I was really struggling with this decision,” Ding told Golf Digest before teeing it up in Japan. “I talked with my coaches, friends and agent. It’s hard to get a tour card as a young player, and this was probably my best chance.”
While he waffled a bit from his pre-tournament statement that he would turn pro immediately after the APAC, he ultimately will follow through on that promise to take up a DP World Tour card at his disposal via the newly created Global Amateur Pathway.
“Before I played this, I can’t imagine I’m guarantee to win this tournament,” he said. “So, I don’t know. It’s a problem. I think more likely I should take the card.”
Ding is ready to bet on himself, and his performance in posting the lowest 72-hole score each of the last two years in the Asia-Pacific proves to himself he’s ready for the next step.
“Because I think it’s the last one for me. So there’s no more chance. I finished my amateur as a champion,” he said. “Yeah, because it’s the last one and I won it … 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.
“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.”
That, of course, is no guarantee. Ding is not the first amateur to pass up an invitation to the Masters Tournament, and despite all of the promise they showed as amateurs doesn’t mean it will translate to professional success at the level worthy of competing at Augusta National.
As a member of the U.S. Eisenhower Trophy team in 1972, Mark Hayes earned a 1973 Masters exemption. He forfeited his place to turn pro instead. Hayes finally reached Augusta in 1977 after winning three times in the previous year including the 1977 Players Championship. He ultimately played in a Ryder Cup and 34 career majors, including six Masters (his best Augusta finish was T10 in 1982).
Tom Scherrer lost to Justin Leonard in the 1992 U.S. Amateur final but decided to forgo his runner-up spot in the 1993 Masters field to turn pro. Scherrer did win the 2000 Kemper Open on the PGA Tour to finally get his one and only chance to play in the 2001 Masters, where he finished 25th.
Colt Knost made what seemed like a calculated gamble on himself after winning both the 2007 U.S. Amateur and U.S. Amateur Public Links — each carrying a berth in the Masters. But after competing on the winning U.S. Walker Cup team that September, the then WAGR No. 1 amateur opted to turn pro and forfeit his place in the 2008 Masters, U.S. Open and British Open. Knost had two career wins on the Nationwide Tour (now Korn Ferry) and eventually qualified to play once each in the U.S. Open (2012), British Open (2016) and PGA Championship (2016), but he never got to play in the Masters.
Fred Biondi of Brazil won the 2023 NCAA individual championship to become the first player to receive the Masters and U.S. Open invites that come with it. Biondi, however, turned pro a week after his Florida team won the NCAA title, forfeiting his spot in both majors. After climbing as high as No. 9 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, Biondi finished T10 at Q School to earn full-time status on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2024. He only made seven of 22 cuts this season, finishing 117th in points.
It remains to be seen if Ding is making the right call taking a pass on potentially once-in-a-lifetime chances to compete in the biggest major championships in the world.
“A person can have a lot of regrets,” Ding admitted.
At 6-foot-3 with a big game and résumé that includes winning the 2022 U.S. Junior Amateur at Bandon Dunes and a pro event on the 2021 China Tour at only 16, the 19-year-old Ding looks the part of a player who can make the leap successfully to the professional ranks. He will be eligible for DP World Tour membership in 2025 thanks to the newly established Global Amateur Pathway which creates an avenue “for non-collegiate amateur players on to the DP World Tour and partner tours around the world. It has been created to help the very best male amateur players take the next step in their careers.”
The GAP grants the best eligible non-collegiate male amateur within the WAGR top 20 a DP World Tour card for the following season provided they meet specific criteria:
Not be a current NCAA Division-I player;
Be at least 20 years of age by the end of the calendar year of the relevant ranking period.
Ding left Arizona State in August after only one season on the team to remove himself from the collegiate ranks and he will turn 20 on Nov. 19. Currently No. 5 in the WAGR before getting credit for his Asia-Pacific victory, Ding is easily the highest eligible non-collegiate player in the ranking period, which ends on Sunday.
The next DP World Tour season begins in late November in Australia and Ding will be a card-carrying member.
“I can’t sacrifice this tour card for the chance to play the Masters [and the Open,]” Ding told Golf Digest. “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.”
Ding’s Augusta bypass leaves only five eligible amateur qualifiers for 2025 with one spot remaining for the 2025 Latin America Amateur champion in January: U.S. Amateur winner José Luis Ballester of Spain and runner-up Noah Kent; British Amateur champion Jacob Skov Olesen of Denmark; NCAA individual champion Hiroshi Tai of Singapore; and U.S. Mid-Amateur champion Evan Beck.
Rocco Mediate collects another win at age 61 (Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
Stray Shots: Rocco keeps on rocking, rolling
By Peter Kaufman
Rocco Mediate. One of golf’s great characters, and talents, remains Rocco Mediate. Winner of the Constellation Furyk & Friends on the senior tour Sunday in a playoff against Bob Estes, Mediate has now won a PGA Tour-sanctioned event in each decade from his 20s (in 1991) to his 60s (2024). Incredible. And how many players (other than Tiger Woods) have ever made a major swing change (Mediate’s was some 25 years ago due to back issues) and come back just as good, if not better?
While Mediate won six times on the PGA Tour and now five times on PGA Tour Champions (including a major at the 2016 Senior PGA), his most famous accomplishment was losing — when Tiger needed 91 holes to beat him in the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines on a broken leg. The world got to see Rocco’s talent, humor, showmanship and competitiveness on the biggest stage, and Tiger needed a 72nd-hole birdie, 18-hole playoff AND an extra sudden-death hole to knock Mediate off.
Rocco’s overall major championship record on tour was indifferent at best, with just two top-fives in 51 starts, but he had few peers in ball-striking. On Sunday at Timuquana, it sure looked like his putter was helpful. Putting was often his Achilles Heel. I played a round with him many years ago where he shot 1-under. He hit 17 greens, made no birdie putts but chipped in for his lone par-breaker of the day.
Mediate lost a lot of years in his prime due to ongoing back issues and surgeries. One year he was in contention at the Masters with nine holes to play but hurt his back again on the back nine, made a 10 on the par-3 12th hole and struggled to finish.
Mediate also had a long history with Arnold Palmer and Pittsburgh — dating back to his teens. From Palmer he learned how to treat fans well, and to make things as entertaining as possible while remaining laser-focused on winning.
He remains as opinionated and funny as ever, and his character is on display weekly on SiriusXM radio talking about the game and welcomes callers (but raise Phil Mickelson and LIV with him at your peril).
This is an unexpectedly terrific story to start our long winter’s wait for Augusta. Speaking of which, whatever carnage ensued due to the recent hurricane, it’s a pretty safe bet that Augusta National will be in fine form come April.
Road Rage. Who will speak for the Road Hole against the slings and arrows of Robert MacIntyre? The 28-year-old Scotsman — who has had a terrific year with PGA Tour wins in the Canadian and Scottish Opens — stumbled in the Dunhill Links Championship and went double/bogey on Saturday and Sunday, respectively, on the infamous 17th home at St. Andrews’ Old Course, finishing T25.
“Blow it up!” MacIntyre said of the 17th after the Dunhill final round. “I don'‘t think there are many worse holes in world golf. I think it’s a terrible hole off the back tee. It doesn’t need to be modernized. To bring excitement it needs to be a hole you are able to hit a golf shot into and not one where you just hit it onto the green and try to get up and down.”
Well now. A couple of points:
Thank you for your architectural commentary, Mr. MacIntyre. It’s surprising. It’s disappointing. The Road Hole is among the most famous in golf, and a linchpin of the world’s most iconic course.
Just a guess, but it’s likely that if you somehow managed to play the Road Hole better, your blasphemy would not have been heard. Which would have been a very good thing, just saying.
A shout-out to Bobby Jones. The great man has long been rumored to be the first player, back in the Roaring Twenties, to go around St. Andrews with nothing higher than a 4 on his card. In any event, he won the Open there, and used to play the Road Hole by hitting his second long and left, and then chipping back the easier way.
The Dunhill Summit? It was special to see PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan yucking it up as they were paired together in the first round at the Dunhill pro-am. Maybe this is a shrewd negotiating strategy for the commish, in his unending quest to actually get a deal done with PIF/LIV. But let’s not count on it. The Saudis still hold all the cards, and they have the financial leverage here to get a deal done that they like, as opposed to just any deal.
And maybe there will never be a real deal. Here is Rory McIlroy weighing in at the Dunhill:
“I think the best thing we can maybe hope for is a bit of crossover between them (LIV, PGA and DP World tours) and then maybe while that is happening over that period of time, whether it be one year, two years, three years, just trying to figure out the rest.
“I think the hard thing is there are legal precedents that have been set in America and here and that make it very different. That’s the big thing.”
Channeling his inner William Shakespeare, McIlroy continued: “No one likes lawyers — I certainly don’t — and, yeah, that’s a big part of the issue. I think there is a willingness there from all parties to try and get it to happen but you’ve got tonnes of lawyers in the middle of it.”