College golfer trades in economics class for an unexpected chance in the NCAA tournament

When Northwestern freshman Dylan Wu was taking notes in his econometrics class Monday morning, he got a concerning text from his golf coach David Inglis.

“Call me after class please”, the text read.

Wu, who was the first alternate for the NCAA men’s golf tournament, was worried he was in trouble.

“At first I’m like did I do something wrong? I thought he was getting mad at me for something,” Wu told For The Win. “For a second, I thought maybe this is about regionals. But then I thought it’s been a week, I’m the first one out, maybe it’s about something else.”

His instincts were right.

Wu found out in between his most challenging economics class and Chinese class that he was going to the NCAA men’s golf regional.

St. John’s golfer Dylan Crowley withdrew after a scheduling conflict with a U.S. Open local qualifier, opening a spot in the tournament for Wu, a freshman from Oregon.

And guess what? He’s doing well.

Wu opened the tournament with a 68, only four strokes behind the leader Rigel Fernandes from USF.

“He comes in with no pressure, no expectations. He’s just happy to be here and having fun,” said Inglis.

Wu has a chance to move on to the next round. The top five teams advance and then the top individual not on one of those teams advances.

“Just having this opportunity to extend my season and be able to play rather than be in class, I think this opportunity just helps us show me that I’ve been given an opportunity I can’t waste,” Wu said. “So I shouldn’t waste it.”

[“source-ftw.usatoday.com”]