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An Byeong-hun falls to middle of pack at Dubai Championship

November 19, 2015
An Byeong-hun of South Korea tees off on 14th hole during the round one of DP World Tour Championship golf tournament in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Thursday, Nov. 19, 2015. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)

An Byeong-hun of South Korea tees off on 14th hole during the round one of DP World Tour Championship golf tournament in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Thursday, Nov. 19, 2015. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)

By Brian Han

An Byeong-hun finished in third last week at the BMW Masters and exuded confidence coming into the European Tour’s last event of the year at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.

The South Korean cited his putter as the deciding factor in his success, which is exactly what held him back on Thursday during a round that included a handful of missed scoring opportunities.

An ended up shooting a 2-under 70 to tie for 23rd with the likes of American Patrick Reed and Sweden’s Kristoffer Broberg who won the previous event.

Luckily that puts him only four shots back of leaders Martin Kaymer, Andy Sullivan, Ian Poulter and Marcus Fraser with three rounds to go.

The 24-year-old has crafted his best season yet in his young career and goes into the tournament ranked seventh in the Race to Dubai ahead of some of the world’s best players including Henrik Stenson and Sergio Garcia.

He won a European Tour major earlier in May at the BMW PGA Championship.

Race to Dubai leader Rory McIlroy is two strokes off the lead after a 4-under 68.