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An Byeong-hun

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An Byeong-hun
Personal information
Full nameAn Byeong-hun
NicknameBen
Born (1991-09-17) 17 September 1991 (age 33)
Seoul, South Korea
Height1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight95.0 kg (209.4 lb; 14.96 st)
Sporting nationality South Korea
ResidenceOrlando, Florida
Career
CollegeUniversity of California, Berkeley
Turned professional2011
Current tour(s)PGA Tour
Former tour(s)Challenge Tour
European Tour
Korn Ferry Tour
Professional wins5
Highest ranking23 (12 May 2024)[1]
Number of wins by tour
European Tour2
Korn Ferry Tour1
Challenge Tour1
Other1
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentT16: 2024
PGA ChampionshipT22: 2020
U.S. OpenT16: 2019
The Open ChampionshipT13: 2024
Achievements and awards
Sir Henry Cotton
Rookie of the Year
2015
European Tour
Graduate of the Year
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

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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.[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

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An 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

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Professional wins (5)

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European Tour wins (2)

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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 Thailand Thongchai Jaidee, Spain Miguel Ángel Jiménez
2 27 Oct 2024 Genesis Championship1 67-66-71-67=271 −17 Playoff South Korea Tom Kim

1Co-sanctioned by the Korean Tour

European Tour playoff record (1–0)

No. Year Tournament Opponent Result
1 2024 Genesis Championship South Korea Tom Kim Won with birdie on first extra hole

Korn Ferry Tour wins (1)

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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 South Africa M. J. Daffue, United States Ben Griffin,
United States Scott Harrington, South Korea Kim Seong-hyeon

Challenge Tour wins (1)

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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 France Benjamin Hébert

Korean Tour wins (2)

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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 South Korea Noh Seung-yul
2 27 Oct 2024 Genesis Championship1 67-66-71-67=271 −17 Playoff South Korea Tom Kim

1Co-sanctioned by the European Tour

Korean Tour playoff record (1–0)

No. Year Tournament Opponent Result
1 2024 Genesis Championship South Korea Tom Kim Won with birdie on first extra hole

Playoff record

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PGA Tour playoff record (0–3)

No. Year Tournament Opponents Result
1 2016 Zurich Classic of New Orleans United States Jamie Lovemark, United States Brian Stuard Stuard won with birdie on second extra hole
An eliminated by par on first hole
2 2018 Memorial Tournament United States Bryson DeChambeau, United States Kyle Stanley DeChambeau won with birdie on second extra hole
Stanley eliminated by par on first hole
3 2024 Sony Open in Hawaii United States Keegan Bradley, United States Grayson Murray Murray won with birdie on first extra hole

Results in major championships

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Results 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
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
NT = no tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic

Summary

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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

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Tournament 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
The Players Championship CUT T30 T26 C CUT T35 CUT
  Did not play

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

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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

  Top 10
  Did not play

QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
NT = No tournament
"T" = Tied

Team appearances

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Professional

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Week 19 2024 Ending 12 May 2024" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
  2. ^ Seung-woo, Kang (31 August 2009). "An Becomes Youngest U.S. Amateur Champ". The Korea Times.
  3. ^ a b Evans, Farrell (24 March 2010). "Questions for ... Byeong-Hun An". Golf.com. Archived from the original on 27 May 2010.
  4. ^ Latzke, Jeff (30 August 2009). "US Amateur Champ Is Youngest Ever - Again - at 17". Dallas Morning News. Associated Press.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ Herrington, Ryan (27 August 2010). "Uihlein Wins Cowboy Quarterfinal Shootout". Golf Digest.
  7. ^ "Byeong-Hun An Loses at U.S. Amateur". ESPN. 28 August 2010. Archived from the original on 30 August 2010.
  8. ^ "Former U.S. Am champ joins Chandler's ISM group". Golfweek. 18 January 2012.
  9. ^ "2013 Scottish Hydro Challenge – Leaderboard". PGA European Tour. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
  10. ^ "An claims Rolex glory in Geneva". PGA European Tour. 24 August 2013.
  11. ^ Dusek, David (15 December 2019). "Presidents Cup grades: Captains, Royal Melbourne score high marks". Golfweek.
  12. ^ Schlabach, Mark (11 October 2023). "PGA Tour suspends Byeong Hun An for banned substance". ESPN. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
  13. ^ "An Byeong-hun banned for doping violation by PGA Tour". BBC News. 11 October 2023. Retrieved 19 October 2024.
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