SEOUL, South Korean An Byeong-hun has come up just short of his first career PGA Tour victory in Hawaii.
An lost on the first hole of a three-way playoff at the Sony Open in Hawaii at Waialae Country Club in Honolulu on Sunday (local time). Grayson Murray of the United States captured the title with a stunning 38-foot birdie putt on the par-5 18th. Moments later, An stood over a four-foot birdie attempt to extend the playoff, with the third player, Keegan Bradley of the United States, out of contention after missing his own birdie putt. But An pushed his putt to the right, as he fell to 0-3 in PGA Tour playoffs.
The three players finished 72 holes tied at 17-under 263, with An carding a 64 and the two Americans each shooting a 67.
An had a chance to capture the tournament in regulation, but he missed a 13-foot eagle putt that could have taken him to 18-under.
The three players went back to the 18th hole to begin the playoff. With Bradley and Murray sending their shots left and right en route to the green
, An hit an excellent chip shot out of the deep rough from just short of the green to set up what appeared to be the deciding birdie putt.
Murray, however, had other ideas, draining his long putt from the center of the green to put pressure on An to make his. The South Korean couldn’t deliver and settled for second place.
An, 32, has four professional victories to his credit, but none so far on the PGA Tour. He is the son of former Olympic table tennis medalists: Ahn Jae-hyung of South Korea and Jiao Zhimin of China.
This was An’s second start of the 2024 season. He was suspended for three months late last season after testing positive for a banned substance found in an over-the-counter cough medicine in South Korea.
An began the final round tied for fourth place at 11-under, three strokes off the lead. And the South Korean stumbled out of the gate, with bogeys on two of his first three holes. He did have a birdie at No. 2 to soften the blow.
An pushed himself back into contention with birdies at the six
th and the eighth, and then an eagle at the par-5 ninth.
A birdie at the 11th moved An to within a shot of the lead at 15-under.
At that point, three players, Russell Henley, Carl Yuan and Murray, shared the lead at 16-under.
After Henley briefly moved ahead to 17-under, the leaderboard was so crowded that seven players were within three strokes off the lead.
Henley missed a relatively easy par attempt on the 16th to fall back to 16-under. An, who birdied the 14th, was among five players now tied for the lead at 16-under.
An had pars over the next three holes, including a key save on the par-3 17th after missing the green long and right.
Then on the par-5 18th, An set himself an eagle opportunity with a brilliant second shot from 242 yards away. But he missed the 13-foot putt to the left and settled for a birdie to take the clubhouse lead at 17-under.
Source: Yonhap News Agency
