World No. 4 beginner Wenyi Ding has withdrawn from the U.S. Novice.
Ding, a rising sophomore at Arizona State, was initially slated to play the 2 rounds of stroke-play qualifying alongside fellow Solar Satan Preston Summerhays and Virginia’s Ben James, however he has since been faraway from the tee sheet.
The USGA stated that Ding’s withdrawal was attributable to “harm,” nevertheless it couldn’t disclose specifics.
Ding has performed sparingly this summer season, although he did win the Southern Novice earlier than tying for 67th on the Western Novice. He was coming off a debut spring semester wherein he posted 5 top-6 finishes, together with a win on the Amer Ari Invitational in February.
Ding is also ranked No. 1 within the World Novice Pathway rating, a brand new rating that may reward the highest non-collegiate beginner every year with a DP World Tour card. Ding’s inclusion in that rating, in fact, has created hypothesis about his future plans. Based on this system’s webpage, in an effort to be eligible for the rating, a participant should “not be a present NCAA Division-I participant” and “be not less than 20 years of age by the tip of the calendar yr.” Ding, who turns 20 in November, has not introduced any intentions to show professional and stays listed on Arizona State’s 2024-25 roster.
The inaugural rating interval ends Oct. 13, with the highest participant receiving DP World Tour standing for the 2025 season, and Ding leads former Arkansas participant Jacob Skov Olesen by practically 1.4 common factors, concerning the hole between Olesen and No. 6 Nathan Petronzio, a Texas grad.
The U.S. Novice area for subsequent week’s championship at Hazeltine nonetheless options the opposite 9 top-10 amateurs on this planet, together with No. 1 Gordon Sargent, No. 2 Jackson Koivun and No. 3 Luke Clanton, who’re grouped collectively for stroke play.
Clanton’s standing, nonetheless, stays up within the air because the Florida State junior is competing within the PGA Tour’s Wyndham Championship. Clanton shot 2 underneath within the first spherical to take a seat contained in the reduce line, however due to excessive rainfall from Hurricane Debby, he wasn’t scheduled to start his second spherical till 4:01 p.m. ET Saturday. Clanton’s group tees off Monday at 2:09 p.m. CT at Chaska City Golf Course.
An inquiry despatched Friday to Clanton’s agent about Clanton’s plans ought to Clanton make the reduce and the Wyndham push into Monday haven’t been returned.
