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S. Korean golfer soars in Presidents Cup standings

May 26, 2015

South Korean golfer An Byeong-hun celebrates his win at the BMW Championship. (Adam Davy/PA via AP)

SEOUL, May 26 (Yonhap) — South Korean golfer An Byeong-hun, fresh off his first professional victory on the European Tour, has soared in the latest Presidents Cup standings for the International Team, raising hopes of competing in the biennial event on home soil this fall.

On the strength of his victory at the BMW PGA Championship last weekend, the 23-year-old has jumped from 38th to ninth in the Presidents Cup standings.

The Presidents Cup pits Americans versus non-European international golfers in match play. The top-10 international players in the world rankings at the end of the 2015 Deutsche Bank Championship on Sept. 7 will make the team, while captain Nick Price will choose two additional players.

This year’s event will be held in Incheon, just west of Seoul, in October. It will be the first time that the Presidents Cup, which started in 1994, will take place in Asia.

An, the 2009 U.S. Amateur champ, is the only South Korean ranked inside the top 10. Bae Sang-moon, a two-time PGA Tour winner, is the next South Korean at No. 17.

After taking the BMW PGA Championship, the European Tour’s flagship tourney, An rose from 132nd to 54th in the world rankings. With less than four months left until the team is set, An stands a solid chance of making the dozen-man squad on merit.

An won the BMW PGA Championship with a tournament record of 21-under 267, thanks to a blistering, bogey-free final round of 65. He became the first Asian winner of the event.

An is the son of former South Korean table tennis player Ahn Jae-hyung and ex-Chinese table tennis star Jiao Zhimin. Ahn won the bronze in the men’s doubles at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, while Jiao grabbed the silver in the women’s singles and the bronze in the women’s doubles at the same event. The two got married after the Olympics.

The U.S. team is selected on different criteria. The top-10 Americans in the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup points rankings, from the 2013 BMW Championship through the 2015 Deutsche Bank Championship on Sept. 7, will earn automatic spots. The points earned in 2015 are worth twice as much. Jay Haas, the U.S. captain, will make two additional picks on Sept. 8.

This year’s will be the 11th Presidents Cup. The U.S. has won eight times and lost just once, while the two sides ended in a tie in 2003.