Ben An Edges Out Tom Kim To Win Genesis Championship Following Playoff

KOREAN stars Ben An and Tom Kim gave home fans a final round to remember at the Genesis Championship, with An coming out on top after Kim’s putt to win on the 72nd green lipped out.

The pair then headed to a playoff, with An coming out on top thanks to a birdie at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea in Incheon.

On a day when six different players held the lead at some point, Kim was one clear heading down the last after An dropped a shot at the 17th.

Both landed their approach to eight feet, with An applying the pressure by holing his effort to move back alongside Kim at 17 under. Kim needed to sink his to claim the one-shot victory, but missed and the two home favourites were forced into a play-off.

Kim hit a poor second and then saw his third shooting into the stands, resulting in a bogey.

An had two putts for the title on home soil but only needed one to seal his first victory on the DP World Tour since lifting the 2015 BMW PGA Championship.

"It's great, I've had a great season obviously, it's been too long (to win) on the main Tour," An said. "All I tried to do is show some great golf in front of the home fans, it's been a while since I've played in front of them.

"It feels amazing, it's a bit of a shame that Tom had a bit of mess there, but it's been a great tournament for me, I've really enjoyed it. There has been a lot of fans out there supporting me and Tom and I feel like we had a great battle today. I just got a little bit lucky to be a winner out there today I think.

"It's a sweet ending for this year, it's been a great year. This feels amazing, I'm going enjoy it for a while then I've got to get back on it."

Genesis Championship Tournament Highlights

Who Is Ben An

Byeong Hun An was born in Seoul on September 17, 1991, the son of Ahn Jae-Hyung and Jiao Khimin, both of whom were table tennis medalists at the 1988 Olympic Gamesin Seoul.

He moved to the United States in 2005 to attend the David Leadbetter Golf Academy in Florida.

In August 2009, at age 17, An became the youngest-ever winner of the US Amateur, thrashing Ben Marton 7&5 in the 36-hole final at Southern Hills. 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 in a tie for 59th.

At the 2010 U.S. Amateur, An became the first defending champion to advance to the semi-finals since Tiger Woods in 1996.

He turned professional in 2011 and earned a spot on the Challenge Tour.

In June 2013, An had his best finish on the Challenge Tour, tied for second place at the Scottish Hydro Challenge.  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. He finished 2014 in third place in the Challenge Tour Rankings, and moved up to the DP World Tour.

In May 2015, he won the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.

In 2016, An played the Zurich Classic of New Orleans  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 Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne.

He was suspended from the PGA Tour for three months in 2023 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 bought in South Korea.

He has made 202 starts on the PGA Tour, making 141 cuts. He is still looking for his first PGA Tour success but has had five runner-up finishes and four thirds.

An averages 307.2 yards from the tee, hits 53.33% of fairways and finds 67.63% of greens in regulation. He gets up and down from the sand 62.04% of the time, averages 28.68 putts per round, averages 4.20 birdies per round and has a scoring average of 70.01.

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