Chinese star Ding headed to Sun City Golf Challenge

Asian golf will witness one of its rising stars make his debut in the Nedbank Golf Challenge when 19-year-old Wenyi Ding tees it up at Sun City from December 5-8.

The Chinese golf sensation will face his biggest test since turning professional in October when he joins a stellar field for “Africa’s Major” that already includes defending champion and six-time PGA Tour winner Max Homa, PGA Tour champions Will Zalatoris and Corey Conners, DP World Tour stars Nicolai and Rasmus Højgaard, victorious European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald, and fellow Sunshine Tour stars Thriston Lawrence, Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Erik van Rooyen. 

Ding will now seek to make history as the first Chinese champion in the more than 40 years of the Golf Challenge.

After a glittering amateur career, Ding turned professional through the Global Amateur Pathway, which was launched by the DP World Tour, PGA Tour and The R&A to help the best eligible male amateur players within the top 20 on the World Amateur Golf Rankings take the next step in their careers and secure playing rights on the DP World Tour.

Though only a few months into his professional career, Ding is already a global golf sensation. The Beijing-born golfer was the first in Arizona State history to win the Pacific-12 Conference Freshman of the Year and Player of the Year. He was also the first Chinese golfer to win a US Golf Association title when he claimed the 2022 US Junior Amateur and this year he won the Asia Pacific Amateur Championship.