"Watch out for Ding," sophomore Michael Mjaaseth said after being asked about his new record-breaking teammate, Wenyi Ding. Following his college debut at the Copper Cup in January, Ding has played in two stroke-play tournaments.
In his first two tournaments, Ding only lost to one player.
Ding won his first tournament as a freshman, beating second place by nine strokes, and broke the all-time collegiate record on a 54-hole course with a score of 189.
These first two stellar performances led to Ding rising up to first place in the NCAA D1 men's golf rankings. He also rose to eighth in World Amateur Golf rankings ahead of ASU sophomore Preston Summerhays, who now stands at ninth.
On Feb. 6 he was named Golfer of The Week by the Pac-12 Conference after putting up a 64.66 scoring average and being 27-under at the Amer Ari Invitational. Dominating this competition brought him to currently hold the best stroking average on the ASU team.
While Ding's current scoring average would crush former Sun Devil golf star Jon Rahm's leading average of 69.15, Ding can only play in 7 more tournaments this season, including the NCAA and Pac-12 championships. This puts him one tournament shy of being eligible for the ASU leaderboards.
Ding was raised in Beijing, China and turned pro at 13 years old. After coming to the United States to compete and win in the U.S. Junior Amateur Golf Championship in 2022, then ranking No. 132 at the US Open in 2022, he became an instant collegiate prospect.
Despite growing up across the world, Ding was still drawn. Head coach Matt Thurmond says that ASU was able to sign Ding because of how notable the college brand is.
"When he heard that ASU was watching him and interested in him, that excited him," Thurmond said. "He knew who we were and knew that it was a great place to be."
Only four Chinese golfers are playing in the PGA tour, and Ding could be the fifth.
Playing golf in a foreign country, like the United States, comes with its struggles for an international player. Junior Josele Ballester, from Spain, played with Ding at the Copper Cup.
"Especially coming from China, it has to be a big change for him," Ballester said. "He is saying that he is not the best, and he's working on it. But I mean, he just did his thing. He forgot about all those things that he might need to improve and just played his game, and he did awesome."
Ding's ultra-focused mindset is not just clear to his teammates but to everyone around the program. Thurmond says that Ding does not just say he wants to be the best; he works toward it.
"He walks the walk," Thurmond said. "Every kid you recruit says they want to be the best. Being someone that is working towards it, he has the discipline to do it."
Recruiting a great player like Ding has a big effect on the team. Thurmond said that Ding's arrival has contributed to a different team dynamic.
"When you bring a new player like that, it maybe takes some pressure off everybody else," Thurmond said. "But it also puts more pressure on too because it's harder to make the starting five because he is taking a spot. It definitely adds intensity and pressure to do that because he's setting a new standard."
After losing to BYU's Zac Jones at the National Invitational Tournament, Ding went on to win the Amer Ari Invitational in Hawaii. He said his first win in his second collegiate stroke play tournament meant a lot to him.
"I haven't won for three years in stroke play," Ding said. "So last week meant a lot to me. It reminds me to keep going."
His first college win was special for more than one reason.
However, ASU's historic play at the Amer Ari Invitational, led by Ding, became the best stroke-play tournament by a Sun Devil team.
Edited by Alfred Smith III, Alysa Horton and Caera Learmonth.
Reach the reporter at Gbarberi@asu.edu and follow @Giobarberio1 on X.
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