An Byeong-hun explained

An Byeong-hun
Fullname:An Byeong-hun
Nickname:Ben
Birth Date:17 September 1991
Birth Place:Seoul, South Korea
Weight:95kg (209lb)
Residence:Orlando, Florida
College:University of California, Berkeley
Yearpro:2011
Tour:PGA Tour
Extour:Challenge Tour
European Tour
Korn Ferry Tour
Prowins:4
Eurowins:1
Nwidewins:1
Chalwins:1
Otherwins:1
Masters:T16: 2024
Usopen:T16: 2019
Open:T13: 2024
Pga:T22: 2020
Award1:Sir Henry Cotton
Rookie of the Year
Year1:2015
Award2:European Tour
Graduate of the Year
Year2:2015

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.

Amateur career

Born 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.[1]

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.[2]

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.[3] He made his PGA Tour debut in March 2010 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, two weeks before playing in The Masters. 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.[4]

At the 2010 U.S. Amateur, An became the first defending champion to advance to the semifinals since Tiger Woods in 1996.[5] After An took a 3-up lead after nine holes in his semifinal match, his opponent David Chung rallied to defeat An 1-up.[6]

Professional career

An turned professional in 2011 and earned a spot on the Challenge Tour via three stages of qualifying school.[7]

In June 2013, An had his best finish to date on the Challenge Tour, tied for second place at the Scottish Hydro Challenge.[8] 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.[9] 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.[10]

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.[11]

Amateur wins

Professional wins (4)

European Tour wins (1)

Legend
Flagship events (1)
Other European Tour (0)

Korean Tour wins (1)

Playoff record

PGA Tour playoff record (0–3)

No.YearTournamentOpponentsResult
12016Zurich Classic of New Orleans Jamie Lovemark, Brian StuardStuard won with birdie on second extra hole
An eliminated by par on first hole
22018Memorial Tournament Bryson DeChambeau, Kyle StanleyDeChambeau won with birdie on second extra hole
Stanley eliminated by par on first hole
32024Sony Open in Hawaii Keegan Bradley, Grayson MurrayMurray won with birdie on first extra hole

Results in major championships

Results not in chronological order in 2020.

Tournament2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Masters TournamentCUTCUTT33
U.S. OpenCUTCUTT23CUT67
The Open ChampionshipCUTT26CUTT59CUTT51
PGA ChampionshipCUTCUTT28T56
Tournament201920202021202220232024
Masters TournamentCUTT16
PGA ChampionshipCUTT22T49T43
U.S. OpenT16CUTCUT
The Open ChampionshipT32NTT26T23T13
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
NT = no tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic

Summary

Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts made
0 0 0 0 0 1 5 2
PGA Championship 0 0 0 0 0 1 8 5
0 0 0 0 0 2 8 3
0 0 0 0 0 2 10 7
Totals 0 0 0 0 0 6 31 17

Results in The Players Championship

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

Tournament 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
ChampionshipT52T48T45T29
Match PlayT9T58T40NT1
InvitationalT57T49T57T12
ChampionsT19T63T41T14NT1
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

Professional

See also

Notes and References

  1. News: 31 August 2009 . Seung-woo . Kang . An Becomes Youngest U.S. Amateur Champ . The Korea Times.
  2. News: 24 March 2010 . Evans . Farrell . Questions for ... Byeong-Hun An . Golf.com . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100527030110/http://www.golf.com/golf/tours_news/article/0%2C28136%2C1974622%2C00.html . 27 May 2010 .
  3. News: 30 August 2009 . Latzke . Jeff . US Amateur Champ Is Youngest Ever - Again - at 17 . Associated Press . Dallas Morning News.
  4. News: 17 April 2010 . Iacobelli . Pete . Furyk tops packed Harbour Town leaderboard . . 24 August 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100620013532/http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/36618964/ns/sports-golf/ . 20 June 2010 . dead .
  5. 27 August 2010 . Herrington . Ryan . Uihlein Wins Cowboy Quarterfinal Shootout . Golf Digest.
  6. News: 28 August 2010 . Byeong-Hun An Loses at U.S. Amateur . . https://web.archive.org/web/20100830184044/http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/news/story?id=5506937 . 30 August 2010 . live.
  7. Former U.S. Am champ joins Chandler's ISM group . 18 January 2012 . Golfweek.
  8. Web site: 2013 Scottish Hydro Challenge – Leaderboard . PGA European Tour . 24 June 2013.
  9. Web site: An claims Rolex glory in Geneva . PGA European Tour . 24 August 2013.
  10. Presidents Cup grades: Captains, Royal Melbourne score high marks. David . Dusek . Golfweek . 15 December 2019 .
  11. News: PGA Tour suspends Byeong Hun An for banned substance . ESPN . Mark . Schlabach . 11 October 2023 . 12 October 2023.