Ashun Wu Archives - Golf Digest Middle East

WATCH: DP World Tour player Ashun Wu fails to get second shot beyond member’s tee after hitting drive only 50 yards

Golf Digest Middle East — Sat, 08 Oct 2022 09:22:34 +0000

By Jay Coffin
We’ve all been there. You just don’t expect a touring professional to become one of us. At least, not like this.

Ashun Wu, a 37-year-old from China, made eight birdies on Thursday during an opening-round 63 at the Spanish Open at Club de Campo Villa in Madrid.

But Friday was a completely different story. Wu started out on fire, making three consecutive birdies on Nos. 2-4 and then another on the eighth hole to vault into contention. But then things got weird with seven holes remaining.

Ashun Wu is forced to chip onto the members' tee after his drive goes 40 yards.#AccionaOpen pic.twitter.com/yHl8Hdwnf9

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) October 7, 2022

Wu began to struggle. Wayward drives on the 12th and 13th holes resulted in double bogeys on both. He did make birdie on the par-5 14th hole and parred the 15th.

Then, it happened. Wu hit a drive high and right off the par-4, 448-yard 16th tee that hit a tree and the ball bounced straight down into nasty, thick rough. The ball only traveled 56 yards, according to the DP World Tour website.

Screenshot of Wu’s scorecard with statistics of the par-4 16th hole.

Wu was still so far away from the fairway and, considering that lie, he didn’t believe he could reach it, so he opted to essentially chip the ball onto the member’s tee, which was only another 40 yards ahead. He executed the shot beautifully but was still 350 yards from the pin.

The 224th-ranked player in the world, finally able to play his third shot from the short grass, hit it 282 yards into the fairway, but then hit another poor shot for his fourth, chipped it to 12 feet for his fifth shot and, of course, made the 12 footer for double-bogey 6, this third double in a five-hole span.

There was a bounce back of sorts. Wu hit his tee shot to four feet on the par-3 186-yard 17th hole and made birdie, then closed with par to shoot 39 on the back and one-over 72 on the round. He’s tied for 16th place, only five shots behind leaders Paul Waring and Stephen Gallacher.

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Eddie Pepperell had the perfect tweet before his potentially awkward pairing with Bryson DeChambeau

Golf Digest Middle East — Sun, 26 Jan 2020 07:45:04 +0000

David Cannon/Getty Images

By Alex Myers
Eddie Pepperell has been one of Bryson DeChambeau’s most vocal critics when it comes to slow play.

On Sunday, the Englishman will finally have the chance to tell the American what he thinks in person. Pepperell and DeChambeau will be paired in the third-to-last tee time during the final round of the Omega Dubai Desert Classic.

DeChambeau, the defending champ, sits two shots off Ashun Wu’s 54-hole lead, while Pepperell trails by three with 18 holes to go in the European Tour event.

But golf fans probably will be more interested in this pairing’s interactions than how they finish considering Pepperell’s recent comments concerning the five-time PGA Tour winner. And to his credit, he pointed out the potentially awkward dynamic between the duo on Sunday with this tweet:

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With a dash of luck and some inspired wedge work and putting, Ashun Wu is the man to beat in Dubai

Kent Gray — Sat, 25 Jan 2020 16:50:39 +0000

David Cannon/Getty Images
Wu celebrates after his eagle on the 1st hole in the third round of the Omega Dubai Desert Classic.

By Kent Gray
Ashun Wu clearly didn’t receive the memo about Pink Day at the OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic. Clad from top to toe in black, save for a sparkling white glove, what the fashionably unfazed world No.366 didn’t leave in his hotel wardrobe on Saturday morning was that streaky good golf game of his.

With a brilliantly fluky eagle to open, a luckless finish and lashings of wedge wizardry and silky putting in between, Wu fired a memorable 67 on ‘moving day’ to snare the initiative at the $3.25 million event.

At -11, the Chinese 34-year-old will take a one-stroke lead over Frenchman Victor Perez into Sunday’s final round at Emirates Golf Club and the dream of adding the fabled Dallah trophy to his three previous European Tour titles, the last of them at the KLM Open in September 2018. A forecast promising winds gusting in excess of 40km/h won’t make turning that dream into reality easy, nor the names loitering nearby on a bunched leaderboard.

Perez will start the final round just a shot adrift of China’s Ashun Wu. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)

After his breakthrough at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship last September and a tie for second in Abu Dhabi last week capped by a closing 63, Dundee-domiciled Perez will take ominous momentum into Sunday. Englishman Tom Lewis and American Kurt Kitayama will likewise fancy their chances but perhaps not as much as defending champion Bryson DeChambeau who also lurks just two adrift at -9.

DeChambeau emerged from a frustrating day where every birdie gain seemed to be accompanied by a bogey give-back with a two-under 70. He still looks the player to beat with all of last year’s memories to draw on although Tommy Fleetwood, in a gaggle at four adrift, might have something to say about that. Out in the fourth to last two-ball with Nacho Elvira, Fleetwood could set a tasty clubhouse…target if he signs for anything like the 63 he also closed with in Abu Dhabi to share second with Perez last Sunday.

Wily old Wu shouldn’t be overly fazed, especially if he can conjure a repeat of Saturday and particularly the first flawless 15 holes.

A hole-out eagle two from the left-hand rough on the 1st and a deft chip-in on the 3rd were bonuses in a lighting start, more than compensating for the day’s only dropped shot when a chip from the deep rough beyond the 16th green stopped short in the jaws of the cup. But where Wu truly excelled was on and around the greens, his chipping sublime and a series of dead-weight, centre-cuppers making putting look easy on the slippery Majlis putting surfaces.

Tell us about that eagle, just the third in ODDC history on the par-4 first.

“Yeah, that’s my ‘Happy Chinese New Year Shot’, you know. …Second shot is unbelievable for me. I didn’t know I holed it and the gallery went wild and I knew I holed it, so I was very happy,” said Wu who led by as many as four strokes early on.

You certainly couldn’t miss the Chinese player in his Gary Player-esque outfit even if you probably didn’t see his ascent to the summit of the leaderboard coming after rounds of 77-74 saw him miss last week’s cut in Abu Dhabi by eight shots.

It’s set up a surprise Sunday where a lot of the guesswork could be in figuring out the forecast wind.

“Tomorrow is a great day for me, I think. I’m always happy to play the final round in the final group. So just enjoy the game and play your best, best game, best round tomorrow and let it happen, that’s it.”

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After a day of sniffles and missed putts, expect the new and improved Bryson to return for Sunday’s shootout in Dubai

Kent Gray — Sat, 25 Jan 2020 16:44:15 +0000

GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images
Dechambeau escapes a bunker during the third round of the Omega Dubai Desert Classic on Saturday.

By Kent Gray
Bryson DeChambeau 2.0 was more like a slightly off-key version of his original self at the OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic on Saturday.

Blame that on a serious case of the sniffles – the defending champion did – but fret not for the final round; the 26-year-old has promised to bring back the new and improved Bryson for Sunday’s Dallah trophy shootout.

A sinus issue, distance control problems with his pitching wedge and some “weird” happenings on the Majlis’ seemingly pure greens saw DeChambeau trade six birdies with four bogeys on ‘moving day’. It felt more like he was in a frustrating holding pattern, thankfully with little damage done as he stumbled just a shot and one place down the leaderboard from his Saturday starting position into a three-way share of third on -9.

Just two back of 54-hole leader Ashun Wu and with a whole night to find a solution to his third round woes, DeChambeau insisted he’d be ready for Sunday, whatever the other contenders and Mother Nature throw at him.

Did you hear there could be winds gusting in excess of 40km/h, Bryson?

“Bring it. I love it,” the American retorted.

“I’m actually hitting it surprisingly really, really well right now. I figured something out last night and I implemented it today and it worked beautifully, it was just a couple of distance control things that kind of threw me off.

“So I’m going to go work on that, work on some putting, speed control, speed control was not good today… got to make sure that’s taut tomorrow.”

DeChambeau didn’t know what was more frustrating on Saturday, a blocked right ear or putts that simply refused to drop. He didn’t need his broom handle wand on the 12th where he chipped in and then made another birdie via two trips to the sand on the par 5 next, his drive finding the desert left and his approach a green-fronting bunker. A bogey at 14 followed before a birdie-birdie finish lightened a heavy head.

Yesterday you told us you weren’t feeling well, today you don’t look any better.

“No, I’m worse today. I couldn’t hear anything out of my right ear until number 13, it finally popped and that was helpful a little bit, but, boy, was it a struggle out there for me on the greens today. That’s okay, I’m going to go work on it a little bit. I didn’t feel like I was putting bad, it just seemed like putts were going weird ways and ways they shouldn’t. But I’m going to work on that and hopefully have that ready to go for tomorrow.”

Successfully defending would be something else considering his missed cut in Abu Dhabi and the lingering head cold.

“It would be incredible. Being under the weather and fighting through some of the stuff that happened last week and persevering this week would be a tremendous honour.”

And affirmation that the new, bulked-up Bryson is here to stay for good.

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Chinese star Wu wooed to become global brand ambassador for leading Dubai golf resort

Kent Gray — Thu, 09 May 2019 05:53:59 +0000

By Kent Gray
Three-time European Tour winner Ashun Wu has become the latest brand ambassador for one of Dubai’s leading golf resorts.

The 33-year-old world No. 206 joins former Ryder Cupper Rafa Cabrera Bello and Ladies European Tour stars Olivia Cowan and Amy Boulden with attachments to Dubai’s iconic JA The Resort in Jebel Ali.

Cabrera Bello, Cowan and Boulden had their association extended after last week’s Omega Dubai Moonlight Classic where Cowan finished runner-up to Nuria Itturios by a stroke. Wu is a new signing and a popular conduit to the lucrative Chinese golf tourism market for JA Resorts & Hotels.

Ashun Wu’s winning round in under three minutes ?️#KLMOpen pic.twitter.com/d1TYUL7Lzg

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) September 16, 2018

He won his first European Tour title at the Volvo China Open in 2015 before adding the Lyoness Open to his C.V. the following season. He most recent win was at the KLM Open last season en route to finishing a career-best 50th in last year’s Race to Dubai standings.

JA The Resort Golf Course recently underwent a redesign and refurbishment to remain one of Dubai’s favourite golf escapes.

Wu is currently 114th in the Race to Dubai standings so has work to do to make the now top-50 season deciding DP World Tour Championship although is trending after finishing T-5 at the recent China Open. His next best finish in nine European Tour starts this season was T-38 at January’s Omega Dubai Desert Classic (an event JA The Resort has long supported) with a not-to-be-sniffed-at nine under par total, albeit 15 strokes adrift of record-setting champion Bryson DeChambeau.

Wu has also won twice on Japan Golf Tour, reportedly becoming the first Chinese golfer to do so at the Toshin Golf Tournament in Ryosen in 2012. The following year he captured the Heiwa PGM Championship by a stroke.

JA The Resort in Jebel Ali is home to the recently refurbished 9-hole, par 35 championship golf course. The resort’s offering includes floodlit driving range, putting and pitching greens and The Leadbetter Golf Academy Dubai.

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China’s Ashun Wu rallies late to salvage 2018 season and win KLM Open by one over Chris Wood

Golf Digest Middle East — Mon, 17 Sep 2018 04:51:46 +0000

Jan Kruger/Getty Images

By John Huggan
One shot ahead after three rounds and still clear after 14 holes on the final day, Chris Wood for a long time looked the most likely winner of the KLM Open. But, sadly for the 30-year-old Englishman, those last four holes proved to be four too far. As his nearest challenger, China’s Ashun Wu, made birdie 4s on the 15th and 18th to shoot a closing 67 and reach 16 under on The Dutch course just outside Spijk, Wood could manage only regulation figures. Needing a birdie to tie on the 499-yard par-5 18th, Wood agonisingly three-putted from long range—his first effort actually rolled off the green—to hand Wu the title and the €300,000 first prize.

WIN: Places in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, Omega Dubai Desert Classic and Omega Dubai Ladies Classic Pro-Ams

Wu arrived in the Netherlands 90th on the Race to Dubai and a lowly 344th in the World Ranking. The 33-year-old was nearing the end of a season in which he has struggled mightily to hold onto his tour card, and thus understandably delighted at this dramatic turnaround in his fortunes. Following a T-7 finish in the China Open back in April and T-6 just a week earlier in Switzerland, this was only Wu’s third top-10 finish in an otherwise undistinguished campaign.

“I feel fantastic,” he said after completing his third European Tour victory and moving all the way up to 43rd on the money list. “This is unbelievable. I have so many people to thank, my caddie especially. He told me to focus on every shot and do my best. The last few holes were key. And the shot I hit to 18 was unbelievable, definitely my best shot of the week. My coach and I have been working very hard since the start of the year. And I have been getting better and better since Denmark [where he finished T-49]. I am so happy to have my name on this trophy alongside so many great ones.”

Not surprisingly, even after shooting 69, Wood was less enamored with the eventual outcome. Since winning the 2016 BMW PGA Championship and playing in the Ryder Cup at Hazeltine later that year (he partnered Justin Rose to a foursome victory over Jimmy Walker and Zach Johnson before losing to then-U.S. Open champion Dustin Johnson on the final green in the singles), things have not gone quite so well for the amiable 6-foot-6 giant. Where his career path to that point had gone steadily upwards, he has since stalled amidst much tinkering with his full-swing technique.

Jan Kruger/Getty Images
Wood stood on the 18th green not believing the title has slipped away.

Indeed, since that famous win at Wentworth in May 2016, Wood has managed only six top-10s in 39 European Tour starts. Still, three of those have come this season, all of them runner-up finishes. So, even amidst this latest disappointment, the signs are once again positive. Still, he will look back with some regret on the wild tee-shots he carved well right of the 12th and 15th fairways on Sunday. The first led to a damaging double bogey (one that followed the two successive birdies that had taken him three shots clear of the field), and the latter to a hard-working par on what was the third-easiest hole on the course.

Slightly lower on the leader board, Belgium’s Thomas Detry, who drove home after Friday mistakenly thinking he had missed the cut, only to return and shoot 63-66 over the weekend, finished T-3 alongside Hideto Tanihara. Three-time major champion Padraig Harrington was alone in fifth place, three shots behind the champion. Mention too must be made of Martin Kaymer. In his first event after splitting with long-time caddie Craig Connelly, the former U.S. Open and PGA champion shot a final round 69 to be T-15. Amazingly, this was the German’s third-highest finish on the European Tour this season. Baby steps.

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