Byeong Hun An

ELIGIBILITY: The first 50 players on the OWGR for Week 21, 2024.]

Born in Seoul, Republic of Korea, An is the son of Ahn Jae-Hyung and Jiao Zhimin, both of whom were table tennis medalists in the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul. 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.
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, Okla., surpassing the previous year's champion Danny Lee. He made his PGA Tour debut in March 2010 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, a week before playing in the Masters. An made the cut at the 2010 RBC Heritage and was one shot off the lead during the second round before finishing the tournament T-59th. At the 2010 U.S. Amateur at Chambers Bay, An became the first defending champion to advance to the semifinals since Tiger Woods in 1996. After An took a 3-up lead after nine holes, his opponent, David Chung, rallied to win, 1-up. He also played in the 2011 U.S. Amateur at Erin Hills but withdrew after the first round of stroke play.
When An turned professional in 2011, he followed advice from Wally Uihlein, Titleist's CEO, to play in Europe and earn a spot on the Challenge Tour via qualifying school.
2012 Notes: An played on the Challenge Tour, and through 18 events, finished in the money 11 times with two top-10s. His best finish was T-8th at the Allianz Open de Lyon, where he earned $17,665. He finished 82nd on the Order of Merit.
2013 Notes: Played on the Challenge Tour, and in 22 events, finished in the money 17 times with two top-10s. His best result was T-2nd at the Scottish Hydro Challenge. He earned $64,396 at the event and was ranked 25th on the Order of Merit.
2014 Notes: Played on the Challenge Tour and in 21 events, won the Rolex Trophy, and had eight top-10 finishes. He finished third on the Order of Merit with earnings of $120,107. An also played in eight European Tour events, with a best finish of T-18th at the Hong Kong Open.
2015 Notes: Earned his biggest victory to date at the BMW PGA Championship, with a tournament-record 21-under-par total for a six-shot win. The victory moved him from 132nd to a then career-high 54th in the Official World Golf Ranking. It also helped open the doors for him to play the rest of the majors and WGC events. He added another victory at the Shinhan Donghae Open in September, then focused on the rest of the season on the European Tour. He had a good run in the Series final, finishing 4th at the Turkish Airlines Open, T-19th at the WGC-HSBC Champions, and T-3rd at the BMW Masters. An closed the season with a T-4th at the DP World Tour Championship to finish seventh in the Race to Dubai, the third-highest showing by a rookie. He also earned the honor of being the first Korean to win the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year Award.
2016 Notes: Started the year by finishing 8th at the Nedbank Golf Challenge, then posted a T-5th result at Abu Dhabi and T-4th at the Dubai Desert Classic. He missed the cut at the Masters, but finished T-2nd at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, losing a playoff to Brian Stuard. Finished the year with a 3rd-place result at the KLM Open. Finished on the PGA Tour playing 14 events with two top-10s, earning $926,797, which placed 112th on the money list. He became eligible to play the rest of 2016 on the PGA Tour with his runner-up finish at New Orleans and was able to gain membership for 2017. Represented South Korea at the Olympics, where he finished T-11th in the 60-man field. Played in 16 events on the European Tour, with six top-10s, and finished 36th in the Race to Dubai.
2017 Notes: An played in 22 PGA Tour events, making 17 cuts. He was in the top 10 three times: T-5th at the AT&T Byron Nelson, 6th at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, and T-8th at the Wells Fargo Championship. Finished 102nd in the FedExCup race.
2018 Notes: Played in 24 PGA Tour events, making 19 cuts with four top-10 finishes. He was 42nd in the final FedExCup standings. He was T-6th at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic and T-5th at the Honda Classic, where he finished four shots out of the playoff. He posted his second runner-up finish of his PGA Tour career (lost in a playoff at the 2016 Zurich) at the Memorial when he lost a playoff to Bryson DeChambeau on the second hole. At the RBC Canadian Open, he finished T-2nd, his second runner-up result of the season. His last top-10 of the year was a T-8th in his home country at the Shinhan Donghae Open.
2019 Notes: Played in 22 PGA Tour events, making 19 cuts with three top-10 finishes. Ranked 53rd in the final FedExCup standings. His best finish was 3rd at the Wyndham Championship, where he played his first 68 holes bogey-free but had two down the stretch (on 15 & 16) to finish two strokes behind J.T. Poston. Shot a bogey-free 66 in the final round of the Valero Texas Open to finish T-7th. Closed with rounds of 69-68 to finish T-10th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, five strokes behind champion Francesco Molinari. After shooting 72-70-71 at Wells Fargo, An withdrew with a neck injury. He missed the cut at the PGA Championship but finished T-16th at the U.S. Open, and the neck has been fine since. In the FedExCup Playoffs, he finished T-38th at the Northern Trust and T-28th at the BMW Championship. He played all five matches in his first Presidents Cup and posted a 1-2-2 record, losing his singles match to Webb Simpson, 2 & 1.
2020 Notes: Played in 22 PGA Tour events, making 15 cuts with five top-10 finishes. Ranked 33rd in the FedExCup standings. At the Sanderson Farms, he opened with two rounds of 66s and led by two at that point. He shot 70-69 on the weekend and finished 3rd, a stroke back of the Munoz/Im playoff. Finished T-6th at The CJ Cup, low Korean, and T-8th at the Zozo Championship. Finished T-9th at the Waste Management Phoenix Open and T-4th at the Honda Classic despite opening with a first-round 76 that placed him T-132nd. He followed with rounds of 66-68-67 to finish three strokes behind winner Sungjae Im. After the break, his best finish was T-12th at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational and BMW Championship. In the FedExCup playoffs, he missed the cut at Northern Trust and finished T-12th at the BMW Championship. Competed for the International Team at the Presidents Cup, making his debut at the event and posting a 1-2-2 record. He lost his singles match to Webb Simpson 2 & 1.
2021 Notes: Played in 29 PGA Tour events, making 14 cuts with one top-ten finish. He was 164th in the FedEx Cup race, losing his PGA Tour card. His best finish was T-8th at the American Express.
2022 Notes: Played in 20 Korn Ferry Tour events, making ten cuts with two top-ten finishes. In his third event of the season, he got his first career victory in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event at the LECOM Suncoast Classic. It was his first worldwide win with rounds of 65-66-67-69 for a 17-under 267 and a one-shot victory over MJ Daffue, Ben Griffin, Scott Harrington, and S.H. Kim. Birdies at the par-5 14th and the par-4 16th, with the latter coming via a 55-foot putt, negated a failed sand save attempt and bogey on the 72nd hole. With a second-round 62 at the Veritex Bank Championship, An went on to finish T-2nd, two shots back of winner Tyson Alexander. He went on to finish 13th in the Korn Ferry Tour eligibility list and return to the PGA Tour.
2023 Notes: Played in 31 PGA Tour events, making 24 cuts with four top-ten finishes. He was 44th in the FedEx Cup race. At the Fortinet Championship, the first event of the season. An shot 66-68 to get into contention, but with rounds of 71-71, finished T-4th, four shots back of winner Max Homa. It was his first top-five on the PGA Tour since the 2020 Honda Classic. He was T-6th at the Valero Texas Open, five shots back of winner Corey Conners. An shot a first-round 61 at the Genesis Scottish Open to lead, he went on to finish T-3rd, five shots back of the winner Rory McIlroy. His finish earned him a spot in the 151st Open Championship, he finished T-23rd. At the Wyndham Championship, he shot 65-67 and found himself finishing T-2nd, two shots back of winner Lucas Glover. In the FedEx Playoff, he was T-37th at the FedEx St. Jude Championship and 43rd at the BMW Championship. Unfortunately, The PGA Tour has issued a three-month suspension to Ben An for violating its anti-doping policy. He tested positive for a substance prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency contained in an over-the-counter cough medicine that can be purchased in his native country of Korea. "In August, I was suffering from a head cold and cough. As my symptoms worsened, my mother suggested I take a widely available medication from Korea that had helped her through a similar ailment," An said in a statement posted to his Instagram account. "I took this medicine without checking its contents first, only to later find that it contained a substance that is prohibited under the PGA Tour's anti-doping program."
2024 Notes: He returned to the PGA Tour at The Sentry and finished 4th, three shots back of winner Chris Kirk. The next week lost a playoff to Grayson Murray at the Sony Op0en in Hawaii. Shot 66-65 over the weekend to finish T-4th at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, three shots back of the winner Taylor Pendrith. The next week he was 3rd at the Wells Fargo, 8 shots back of the winner Rory McIlroy.