The man called An may have been viewed as A.N other ahead of the BMW PGA Championship but the 23-year-old from the Far East made a name for himself on the West Course as he strolled to a mighty victory in the European Tour's flagship event at Wentworth.
Less than a year ago, Byeong-hun An was squirreling away a modest cheque for £1,581 for a share of 25th in the Scottish Hydro Challenge at Aviemore. Last night, he was gasping at a bank balance that had been bolstered by £600,347 after easing to a six-stroke stroke victory with a seven-under 65 for a 21-under 267, a record low tally in relation to par for the championship.
In the grand, tenuous traditions of sticking a kilt on any form of international triumph, Florida-based An became only the third rookie to win the PGA title after Scottish duo of Bernard Gallacher in 1969 and Scott Drummond in 2004. There is plenty of pedigree in An, of course, and we can surely expect more from him. At just 17 in 2009, he became the youngest winner of the US Amateur Championship and, having earned promotion from the second-tier Challenge Tour last season, he has now made a huge breakthrough. Calm, considered yet clinical, An, who dropped only four shots all week, finished ahead of two sprightly veteran campaigners in Miguel Angel Jimenez, the 51-year-old Spaniard, and the 45-year-old Thai, Thongchai Jaidee. Chris Wood took fourth on 275 after a 67 that included a hole-in-one on the 12th, a record fifth ace of the tournament. His effort was rewarded with a flashy BMW sports car. At 6 ft 6 in tall, the giant Wood just about shoehorned himself into it.
Sharing the lead with Francesco Molinari overnight, An remained at the top as his Italian rival slithered away and he staved off the advances of Jimenez and Jaidee with a nerveless display of poise and polish. When he almost holed his second shot at the par-5 12th, and tapped in for an eagle, he moved three clear and he gilded the lily with birdies at 15 and 17 to meander majestically home. Cue the fireworks and boisterous celebrations? Not quite. "I really don't celebrate," said the laid back An, who can now look forward to exemptions to the US Open and the Open. "I'm not really a party guy. But this is going to be life changing. I wasn't trying to think about winning but once I had the birdie on 15 I thought 'ok this will do'."
On the home front, it was a good day for Glasgow's Marc Warren. The 34-year-old may not have been in the title hunt here but a place in next month's US Open was at stake and Warren wrapped that up for himself with a tie for 18th on a six-under 282 after a spirited 69. One-over for his round through the turn and sliding down the standings, Warren upped the ante after an important par save from 10-feet on the 10th and conjured birdies at 12, 16 and 17. A pulled tee-shot on the last almost clattered into a family having a picnic but, with his ball coming to rest near a tree, Warren dunted a left-handed dig out over the feast and on to the fairway and launched a super 7-iron into15-feet to set up a third birdie in a row. "After the 10th I said to my caddie 'we need to play the back nine in three-under at least'," admitted Warren, after safeguarding his place in the world's top 60. "Playing for something like a US Open spot gives you the motivation on the back nine. It gives you something to get your teeth into."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article