World No. 4 Wenyi Ding withdraws ahead of U.S. Amateur

World No. 4 amateur Wenyi Ding has withdrawn from the U.S. Amateur.

Ding, a rising sophomore at Arizona State, was originally slated to play the two rounds of stroke-play qualifying alongside fellow Sun Devil Preston Summerhays and Virginia’s Ben James, but he has since been removed from the tee sheet.

The USGA said that Ding’s withdrawal was due to “injury,” but it could not disclose specifics.

Ding has played sparingly this summer, though he did win the Southern Amateur before tying for 67th at the Western Amateur. He was coming off a debut spring semester in which he posted five top-6 finishes, including a win at the Amer Ari Invitational in February.

Ding also is ranked No. 1 in the Global Amateur Pathway ranking, a new ranking that will reward the top non-collegiate amateur each year with a DP World Tour card. Ding’s inclusion in that ranking, of course, has created speculation about his future plans. According to the program’s webpage, in order to be eligible for the ranking, 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, who turns 20 in November, has not announced any intentions to turn pro and remains listed on Arizona State’s 2024-25 roster.

The inaugural ranking period ends Oct. 13, with the top player receiving DP World Tour status for the 2025 season, and Ding leads former Arkansas player Jacob Skov Olesen by nearly 1.4 average points, about the gap between Olesen and No. 6 Nathan Petronzio, a Texas grad.

The U.S. Amateur field for next week’s championship at Hazeltine still features the other nine top-10 amateurs in the world, including No. 1 Gordon Sargent, No. 2 Jackson Koivun and No. 3 Luke Clanton, who are grouped together for stroke play.

Clanton’s status, however, remains up in the air as the Florida State junior is competing in the PGA Tour’s Wyndham Championship. Clanton shot 2 under in the first round to sit inside the cut line, but because of extreme rainfall from Hurricane Debby, he wasn’t scheduled to begin his second round until 4:01 p.m. ET Saturday. Clanton’s group tees off Monday at 2:09 p.m. CT at Chaska Town Golf Course.

An inquiry sent Friday to Clanton’s agent about Clanton’s plans should Clanton make the cut and the Wyndham push into Monday have not been returned.