Wenyi Ding: Freshman Finishes at 27-Under For Win (Nothing Else Needed for This Headline)

Prior to Saturday, the unofficial college golf record book had a couple of 192 postings as its best score.

Sun Devil freshmen Wenyi Ding put up a number over the past three days which might not be topped. It might be mathematically impossible to beat it.

Ding won the Amer Invitational by nine strokes with a sizzling 27-under 189, topped by a 10-under 62 in the final round. He went 5-under on the par-3 holes, 12-under on the par-4s and led the tournament with 26 birdies, four more than any other player in the 124-swinger field.

Ding had followed up his bogey-free first round 9-under 63 Thursday at the Amer Ari Invitational with an 8-under 64 Friday, then came out of the gates with five straight birdies to start his day Saturday. He is 44-under in his first six collegiate rounds. and he has done it in his first two tournaments.

North Carolina took home the team event with a 68-under 796, as ASU finished second with a school-best 63-under 801 (265-268-268).

WHO ELSE WON THIS EVENT FROM ASU?
David Puig (2021), Jesper Kennegard (2009), Chris Hanell (1996) and Todd Dempsey (1994) all won this event.

WHAT A LIST
Jon Rahm had the school record with a 21-under 192 in the 2014 ASU Thunderbird Invitational prior to Ding's efforts. Ding now is the only Sun Devil to post two 17-under tournaments.

LOWEST SUN DEVIL 54-HOLE TOURNAMENT FINAL SCORES (17-UNDER OR BETTER)
189/-27, Wenyi Ding, 2024 Amer Ari Invitational
192/-21, Jon Rahm, 2014 ASU Thunderbird Invitational
197/-19, Preston Summerhays 2023 NCAA Regional, Las Vegas
198/-18, Benjamin Alvarado, 2007 NCAA West Regional
199/-17, Wenyi Ding, 2024 National Invitational Tournament
199/-17, Alex del Rey, 2019 National Invitational Tournament
199/-17, Chun An Yu, 2017 National Invitational Tournament
(note: scores are for the Golfstat era, starting in 1993-94)

BEST IN HISTORY
The 63-under posted by ASU is the best in school history and just the second 40-under tournament outside of Arizona. ASU shot also 49-under just a few weeks back in Tucson.

TEAM BEST VS. PAR THREE-ROUND TOURNAMENT SCORE (1993-94 TO PRESENT)
-63/801, 2024 Amer Ari Invitational
-59/805, 2023 NCAA Las Vegas Regional
-50/814, 2018 National Invitational
-49/815, 2024 National Invitational
-43/821, 2004 ASU Thunderbird Invitational

LOWEST SUN DEVIL ROUNDS (10-UNDER OR BETTER/1993-94 TO PRESENT)
60/-10, Paul Casey, 1999 Pac-10 Championship (fourth round)
62/-10, Wenyi Ding, 2024 Amer Ari Invitational (third round)
62/-10, Preston Summerhays, 2023 NCAA Las Vegas Regional (first round)
62/-10, Jeff Quinney, 1999 ASU Thunderbird Invitational (third round)

AMER ARI INTERCOLLEGIATE
FEB. 8-10, 2024
PAR 72/6,913 YARDS
MAUNA LANI NORTH COURSE
NORTH COURSE
KOHALA COAST, HAWAII
TEAMS (20)
North Carolina 262-268-266=796/-68
Arizona State 265-268-268=801/-63
Auburn 272-261-273=806/-58
Texas Tech 267-272-268=807/-57
Washington 276-262-269=807/-57
Georgia Tech 276-273-265=814/-50
Florida State 273-280-264=817/-47
UCLA 278-274-267=819/-45
Pepperdine 274-276-269=819/-45
Oklahoma State 270-274-275=819/-45
Stanford 277-272-275=824/-40
San Jose State 281-278-267=826/-38
Pacific 279-274-273=826/-38
Oregon 277-279-275=831/-33
Texas 281-285-269=835/-29
Oregon State 278-274-287=839/-25
Hawaii 285-280-283=848/-16
UC Davis 291-285-275=851/-13
Osaka Gakuin 290-297-287=874/+10
Hawaii Hilo 289-294-291=874/+10
 
LEADER AND SUN DEVIL INDIVIDUALS (124 SWINGERS)
1. Wenyi Ding 63-64-62=189/-27
T2. Finn Koelle, Washington 66-64-68=198/-18
T2. Carl Corpus, San Jose State 67-63-64=1398/-18
T14. Josele Ballester 67-66-69=202/-14
T36. Michael Mjaaseth 69-68-69=206/-10
T36. Connor Williams 66-70-70=206/-10
T63. Preston Summerhays 71-71-68=210/-6