Tod Leonard of the U~T San Diego reported an interesting decision by current U.S. Amateur Champion Gunn Yang. The San Diego State Aztec will be taking a leave of absence to pursue a year of pro golf…as an amateur.
Here is the tweet by Leonard:
US Am winner Gunn Yang said today he is taking a one year leave of absence from SDSU to play pro events as amateur.
— Tod Leonard (@sdutleonard) August 28, 2014
The 20-year-old has had a couple rough moments in his young career. He had back surgery in the spring of 2013, and lost his scholarship at SDSU because of his poor play. Things turned around rather quickly when the 776th ranked amateur won the most coveted prize in amateur golf, and invitations to play around the world began pouring in.
Leonard also tweeted this:
Yang has been invited into tournaments in Japan, Korea and Australia. He says he’s still not sure if he’ll play in Farmers Insurance Open.
— Tod Leonard (@sdutleonard) August 28, 2014
Yang was invited to play in the Farmers Insurance Open, and will receive exemptions into The Masters, U.S. Open, and Open Championship. In addition, he will probably receive a couple more PGA TOUR exemptions. Yang is going to experience the best of the best, and he wants to dedicate himself 100% to the game in order to take advantage of the incredible opportunities that come from being the U.S. Amateur Champ.
Play well Gunn.
–Bernie D’Amato (@bdamato711)