What a whirlwind season for promising Chinese-American golfer Brandon Wu. The 23-year-old went from missing Korn Ferry Tour (KFT) qualification to earning a spot at the forthcoming US Open – and contracted Covid-19 in between. “I tested positive earlier in the summer but I was totally asymptomatic, which was just really fortunate,” said Wu, who clinched his first professional win in the KFT Championship in Indiana last weekend, sealing one of five invitations to the Open in Winged Foot, New York, starting on September 17. Wu had narrowly missed out on a guaranteed 2020/21 Tour season spot at the end of last year, meaning he had a conditional status and would not even earn points towards qualification. Like most sports, the ongoing pandemic temporarily halted the season and subsequent promotions, making way for new exemptions. “It was surreal. From being five [strokes] back going into Sunday and almost not even thinking of a chance to win. But I kept my head down – it’s crazy how it all worked out in the end,” said Wu, who finished fifth in the KFT points list. He will also feature in some of the PGA Tour’s opposite field events throughout the upcoming season. “They were going to give 10 total exemptions for players on the Tour. The problem was I couldn’t even score the points to try to get to the exemption. That’s why it seemed so far-fetched at that point – I couldn’t even play the tournaments much less go contend to get into the top five. “It definitely provides a lot of confidence because when you’re not playing, you try to stay patient, but when you don’t have a tangible result to hang your hat on, your belief wavers a bit.” View this post on Instagram First professional win! Amazing week... thank you everyone for the support along the way, I’m truly honored. Now on to the US Open back home in NY! #begood A post shared by Brandon Wu (@bwu97) on Aug 31, 2020 at 7:50am PDT No-one can blame the former Stanford University star, who would find out he had Covid-19 days before his return to the KFT – the PGA’s development tour. “They had been testing at all of the events. I finally got exemption into an event so I could start playing and continue developing from there. Then I tested positive and wasn’t able to play. I had been waiting all this time to play, finally got a chance, then had to sit out again. You’re trying to stay patient and finally get a break – how unlucky is it that you test positive. That was definitely a bummer,” Wu said. But all the negative memories were swept aside after Wu’s fairy tale win. The performance even caught the eye of PGA Championship winner and long-time friend, Collin Morikawa. “He texted me ‘congrats’ and ‘see you at Winged Foot’. I’m good buddies with Collin, he’s one of the greatest guys and such a great player. I’m excited to be able to compete with him again – he went to [the University of California, Berkeley] which is not far from Stanford, so we had to play quite a bit of golf in college together,” Wu said. “It’s cool to see the success he’s had and It’s so cool coming from him, especially because I remember last summer when I qualified for the Open Championship at Royal Port Rush he texted me ‘go win it’.’ Winged Foot is just a couple of miles away from where Wu grew up. “I never could have imagined qualifying this year because six weeks ago I was playing Monday qualifiers for the Korn Ferry Tour,” he said. “When I found out that it was Winged Foot [before qualifying], I thought it would have been so special to go home and play the US Open in my hometown. I lived and grew up just 10 minutes away. Obviously it was a huge bummer learning there would be no qualifying when they cancelled it earlier this year. Luckily, they came out with these exemptions opportunities. Started the day five-shots back. Ended the day with a bogey-free 7-under 65, a trophy, and a spot in the U.S. Open. @bwu97 will be heading home to Scarsdale, New York to take on Winged Foot. pic.twitter.com/JeIxBCvNMz — Korn Ferry Tour (@KornFerryTour) August 30, 2020 “I’ve been on the road for six straight weeks, so it’s nice to finally come home to my apartment, cook some home food and see friends. I’m excited to go to my parents’ home in New York a week in advance, see Winged Foot, and get ready to hopefully win there, too. It’s so special because in a sport like golf, you rarely have these home events. It’s like away games every time.” As he prepares for yet another step in his ultimate dream of competing and contending in the PGA Tour, Wu – who attended an international school in Beijing as a teen – also recalled a tale from the season where his US and Chinese roots collided. “One of the teachers from my school in Beijing, Chris Brubaker, was a volunteer at a tournament at Torey Pines earlier this year. He waved me down and was like ‘hey, I taught at the international school in Beijing when you were there’ and I recognised him! Having that connection all those years later is cool to see. People from all different parts of my childhood wishing me luck. Small world.”