Byeong-hun An, who announced his presence on the world stage with his breath-taking victory at the BMW PGA Championship last week, has put his rapid rise on The European Tour down to the experience of a three-year stint on the Challenge Tour.
The Korean became the latest in a long line of success stories from Europe’s top developmental tour after he soared to a stunning six-shot victory at The European Tour’s Flagship Event at Wentworth Club in England at the weekend.
It was a performance which shocked the world of golf, but the manner of his maiden triumph on Europe’s top tier will not have come as much of a surprise to those who have followed his steady and patient rise through the Challenge Tour.
The 23 year old arrived in Europe with a huge reputation having put his name in the history books in the amateur ranks, becoming the youngest player to win the US Amateur Championship aged 17 – a record previously held by a certain Tiger Woods.
He began his Challenge Tour journey in India in January 2012, making the cut but struggling at the weekend on his professional debut.
For a player with such a glittering amateur record, it was not quite a meteoric rise as he spent the next three years trying to make the breakthrough to The European Tour.
But the friendly and unassuming USA-based player was willing to take it slow and keep the faith in his ability, and it paid off last year when he became the first Korean to win on the Challenge Tour, a victory which helped seal a top 15 spot in the Rankings and graduation to The European Tour.
An admitted that it was sometimes tough to be patient and stay focused, but he believes those three years finding his form and his confidence were crucial in his early success and his magnificent victory at European Tour HQ.
“It was a great experience for me the last three years on the Challenge Tour,” said An. “It definitely helped me on the road to winning this event. I worked hard. I tried to enjoy it, every single event.
“It evidently did help me, I think I could not have done this without playing The Challenge Tour the last three years. It definitely got me prepared. All year I played great this year and it got me ready for this big main Tour events.”
An decided to begin his professional career on the Challenge Tour on the advice of his friend Peter Uihlein’s father Wally, CEO of golf apparel company Acushnet, and he had admitted that the success of Uihlein and Brooks Koepka, last week crowned Graduate of the Year as well as Rookie of the Year, was a big inspiration for him.
“That's the textbook of what I wanted to do; play on The Challenge Tour, win, and then come up to The European Tour. Rookie of the Year this year would be great, but I’m just trying to play well and then play the majors. That's what Brooks did and I think that's great, and that's the way I want to do it.”
