S. Korean An Byeong-hun comes up short in bid for 1st PGA Tour win

SEOUL (Yonhap) — South Korean golfer An Byeong-hun came up short in a bid for his first PGA Tour win in Louisiana on Monday.

An lost in the three-way playoff at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans at TPC Louisiana in Avondale, Louisiana, as the weather-interrupted tournament was forced into a Monday finish.

The 24-year-old won the 2015 BMW PGA Championship on the European Tour en route to winning the circuit’s Rookie of the Year, and was trying to add a victory on the U.S. Tour Monday before his short game deserted him in the final stretch.

An finished the regulation of the shortened, 54-hole event at 15-under 201, tied with Brian Stuard and Jamie Lovemark. The three went back to the par-five 18th for the first playoff hole.

An drove into the left rough off the tee, and his attempt to hit the green in two went way left. An left his third shot short and left of the green, and he hit a mediocre chip for his fourth shot, which landed on the fringe.

An missed the par putt and settled for bogey to crash out of the playoff. Stuard and Lovemark parred the hole to make it a two-horse race for the title.

Stuard then beat Lovemark with a birdie at the second playoff hole for his first PGA Tour win.

Four South Koreans have won on the PGA Tour: eight-time winner Choi Kyoung-ju, the 2009 PGA Championship winner Yang Yong-eun, two-time winner Bae Sang-moon, and the 2014 Zurich Classic champion Noh Seung-yul.

An began the third round trailing leader Stuard by four shots at eight-under. The South Korean put on a furious charge with a bogey-free round of seven-under 65.

An made two birdies on the front nine, and added a third at the par-five 11th with a tap-in.

He then birdied three straight holes starting at the par-four 13th. Then he made another birdie at the 18th and got into a three-way playoff when Lovemark, playing in a group behind An, three-putted for par and Stuard made birdie.

An struggled to keep the ball on short grass in the playoff, and the chunked chip around the green was his undoing.

An, son of the former Korean Olympic table tennis medalist Ahn Jae-hyung and Chinese table tennis medalist Jiao Zhimin, entered the event as the highest-ranked South Korean man at No. 31.