An Byeong-hun (Korean: 안병훈; born 17 September 1991), also known as Byeong-Hun An or Ben An, is a South Korean professional golfer. In August 2009, he became the youngest-ever winner of the U.S. Amateur.
| An Byeong-hun | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | |||||
| Personal information | |||||
| Full name | An Byeong-hun | ||||
| Nickname | Ben | ||||
| Born | 17 September 1991 Seoul, South Korea | ||||
| Height | 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||||
| Weight | 95.0 kg (209.4 lb; 14.96 st) | ||||
| Sporting nationality |  South Korea | ||||
| Residence | Orlando, Florida | ||||
| Career | |||||
| College | University of California, Berkeley | ||||
| Turned professional | 2011 | ||||
| Current tour(s) | PGA Tour | ||||
| Former tour(s) | Challenge Tour European Tour Korn Ferry Tour | ||||
| Professional wins | 5 | ||||
| Highest ranking | 23 (12 May 2024)[1] | ||||
| Number of wins by tour | |||||
| European Tour | 2 | ||||
| Korn Ferry Tour | 1 | ||||
| Challenge Tour | 1 | ||||
| Other | 1 | ||||
| Best results in major championships | |||||
| Masters Tournament | T16: 2024 | ||||
| PGA Championship | T22: 2020 | ||||
| U.S. Open | T16: 2019 | ||||
| The Open Championship | T13: 2024 | ||||
| Achievements and awards | |||||
| |||||
Amateur career
editBorn in Seoul, South Korea, An is the son of South Korean Ahn Jae-Hyung and Chinese Jiao Zhimin, both of whom were medalists in table tennis at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul.[2]
An moved to the United States in December 2005 to attend the David Leadbetter Golf Academy in Bradenton, Florida, where he was also known as Ben An.[3]
In August 2009, at age 17, An became the youngest-ever winner of the U.S. Amateur when he defeated Ben Martin 7 & 5 in the 36-hole final at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma.[4] He made his PGA Tour debut in March 2010 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, two weeks before playing in The Masters.[3] An made the cut at the 2010 Verizon Heritage and was one shot off the lead during the second round before finishing the tournament T-59.[5]
At the 2010 U.S. Amateur, An became the first defending champion to advance to the semifinals since Tiger Woods in 1996.[6] After An took a 3-up lead after nine holes in his semifinal match, his opponent David Chung rallied to defeat An 1-up.[7]
Professional career
editAn turned professional in 2011 and earned a spot on the Challenge Tour via three stages of qualifying school.[8]
In June 2013, An had his best finish to date on the Challenge Tour, tied for second place at the Scottish Hydro Challenge.[9] In August 2014, he won his first Challenge Tour event at the Rolex Trophy, making An the first Korean to win on the Challenge Tour.[10] He finished 2014 in third place in the Challenge Tour Rankings, and moved up to the European Tour.
In May 2015, he won the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth. He was only the second player to win both the U.S. Amateur and the British PGA Championship, after Arnold Palmer.
In 2016, An played the Zurich Classic of New Orleans on an exemption, and lost a playoff at the first hole. In 2016, he earned enough money as a non-member to gain a PGA Tour card for 2016–17.
In December 2019, An played on the International team at the 2019 Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Australia. The U.S. team won 16–14. An went 1–2–2 and lost his Sunday singles match against Webb Simpson.[11]
An has been suspended from the PGA Tour for three months in 2023 (August 31 – December 1) for violating the tour's anti-doping policy. He tested positive for a substance banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency that was included in an over-the-counter cough medicine in South Korea.[12][13]
Amateur wins
edit- 2009 U.S. Amateur
Professional wins (5)
editEuropean Tour wins (2)
edit| Legend |
|---|
| Flagship events (1) |
| Other European Tour (1) |
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | To par | Margin of victory |
Runner(s)-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 24 May 2015 | BMW PGA Championship | 71-64-67-65=267 | −21 | 6 strokes |  Thongchai Jaidee,  Miguel Ángel Jiménez
|
| 2 | 27 Oct 2024 | Genesis Championship1 | 67-66-71-67=271 | −17 | Playoff | Tom Kim
|
1Co-sanctioned by the Korean Tour
European Tour playoff record (1–0)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2024 | Genesis Championship | Tom Kim
|
Won with birdie on first extra hole |
Korn Ferry Tour wins (1)
edit| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | To par | Margin of victory |
Runners-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 20 Feb 2022 | LECOM Suncoast Classic | 65-66-67-69=267 | −17 | 1 stroke |  M. J. Daffue,  Ben Griffin, Scott Harrington, Kim Seong-hyeon
|
Challenge Tour wins (1)
edit| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | To par | Margin of victory |
Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 24 Aug 2014 | Rolex Trophy | 63-69-73-64=269 | −19 | 3 strokes |  Benjamin Hébert
|
Korean Tour wins (2)
edit| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | To par | Margin of victory |
Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 20 Sep 2015 | Shinhan Donghae Open | 66-73-66-67=272 | −12 | 1 stroke | Noh Seung-yul
|
| 2 | 27 Oct 2024 | Genesis Championship1 | 67-66-71-67=271 | −17 | Playoff | Tom Kim
|
1Co-sanctioned by the European Tour
Korean Tour playoff record (1–0)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2024 | Genesis Championship | Tom Kim
|
Won with birdie on first extra hole |
Playoff record
editPGA Tour playoff record (0–3)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponents | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2016 | Zurich Classic of New Orleans | Jamie Lovemark, Brian Stuard
|
Stuard won with birdie on second extra hole An eliminated by par on first hole |
| 2 | 2018 | Memorial Tournament | Bryson DeChambeau, Kyle Stanley
|
DeChambeau won with birdie on second extra hole Stanley eliminated by par on first hole |
| 3 | 2024 | Sony Open in Hawaii | Keegan Bradley, Grayson Murray
|
Murray won with birdie on first extra hole |
Results in major championships
editResults not in chronological order in 2020.
| Tournament | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | CUT | CUT | T33 | ||||||
| U.S. Open | CUT | CUT | T23 | CUT | 67 | ||||
| The Open Championship | CUT | T26 | CUT | T59 | CUT | T51 | |||
| PGA Championship | CUT | CUT | T28 | T56 |
| Tournament | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | CUT | T16 | ||||
| PGA Championship | CUT | T22 | T49 | T43 | ||
| U.S. Open | T16 | CUT | CUT | |||
| The Open Championship | T32 | NT | T26 | T23 | T13 |
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
NT = no tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic
Summary
edit| Tournament | Wins | 2nd | 3rd | Top-5 | Top-10 | Top-25 | Events | Cuts made |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 |
| PGA Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 5 |
| U.S. Open | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 3 |
| The Open Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 7 |
| Totals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 31 | 17 |
- Most consecutive cuts made – 5 (2021 PGA – 2024 PGA)
- Longest streak of top-10s – none
Results in The Players Championship
edit| Tournament | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Players Championship | CUT | T30 | T26 | C | CUT | T35 | CUT |
CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
C = Cancelled after the first round due to the COVID-19 pandemic
Results in World Golf Championships
edit| Tournament | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Championship | T52 | T48 | T45 | T29 | ||
| Match Play | T9 | T58 | T40 | NT1 | ||
| Invitational | T57 | T49 | T57 | T12 | ||
| Champions | T19 | T63 | T41 | T14 | NT1 |
1Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
NT = No tournament
"T" = Tied
Team appearances
editProfessional
- EurAsia Cup (representing Asia): 2016, 2018
- World Cup (representing South Korea): 2016, 2018
- Presidents Cup (representing the International team): 2019, 2024
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Week 19 2024 Ending 12 May 2024" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
- ^ Seung-woo, Kang (31 August 2009). "An Becomes Youngest U.S. Amateur Champ". The Korea Times.
- ^ a b Evans, Farrell (24 March 2010). "Questions for ... Byeong-Hun An". Golf.com. Archived from the original on 27 May 2010.
- ^ Latzke, Jeff (30 August 2009). "US Amateur Champ Is Youngest Ever - Again - at 17". Dallas Morning News. Associated Press.
- ^ Iacobelli, Pete (17 April 2010). "Furyk tops packed Harbour Town leaderboard". NBC Sports. Archived from the original on 20 June 2010. Retrieved 24 August 2010.
- ^ Herrington, Ryan (27 August 2010). "Uihlein Wins Cowboy Quarterfinal Shootout". Golf Digest.
- ^ "Byeong-Hun An Loses at U.S. Amateur". ESPN. 28 August 2010. Archived from the original on 30 August 2010.
- ^ "Former U.S. Am champ joins Chandler's ISM group". Golfweek. 18 January 2012.
- ^ "2013 Scottish Hydro Challenge – Leaderboard". PGA European Tour. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
- ^ "An claims Rolex glory in Geneva". PGA European Tour. 24 August 2013.
- ^ Dusek, David (15 December 2019). "Presidents Cup grades: Captains, Royal Melbourne score high marks". Golfweek.
- ^ Schlabach, Mark (11 October 2023). "PGA Tour suspends Byeong Hun An for banned substance". ESPN. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
- ^ "An Byeong-hun banned for doping violation by PGA Tour". BBC News. 11 October 2023. Retrieved 19 October 2024.
External links
edit- An Byeong-hun at the European Tour official site
- An Byeong-hun at the PGA Tour official site
- An Byeong-hun at the Korean Tour official site (in Korean)
- An Byeong-hun at the Official World Golf Ranking official site