The ‘ole driver-off-the-deck by no means ceases to amaze, particularly in crunch time.
Simply ask Byeong Hun An, who pulled off a minor miracle on Sunday in his native South Korea. Through the remaining spherical of the Genesis Championship—the ultimate occasion of the DP World Tour’s common season—An trailed by two with 4 holes to play. He wanted to make a transfer, so whereas within the fairway on the par-5 fifteenth—293 yards away—An pulled out his driver.
“It is a huge gamble right here,” mentioned the announcer on the DP World Tour broadcast.
With water brief and left of the inexperienced, An’s hopes might have sunk proper then and there. However his driver-off-the-deck scooted up and onto the inexperienced, coming to relaxation simply eight ft previous the pin. He didn’t convert the eagle alternative however managed to salvage a birdie.
“I used to be two photographs again. I had a fantastic driver off the deck on the entrance 9, so I believed, ‘that is the one to do it,’” An mentioned of his method on 15.
“The lay-up wasn’t that straightforward, and heading near the flag, so the motive force was precisely how I deliberate it, and it’s a disgrace I missed that putt, however I believe that was the shot I wanted at that second, and that made me get a birdie on the next gap. I felt it was the proper shot, a bit of aggressive, however I knew I might pull it off.”
An made two extra birdies over his remaining three holes to drive a playoff with Tom Kim, who additionally completed the event at 17-under. Kim had an opportunity to win outright however lipped out on the 18th gap, setting the stage for an all-South Korean playoff.
Within the playoff, Kim airmailed the 18th inexperienced, which led to a bogey. Consequently, An had two putts to win and simply transformed for the title—his first skilled victory since 2015, when he received the Shinhan Donghae Open on the Korean Tour that September. He additionally received the BMW PGA Championship in Might of that yr, which marks his solely different DP World Tour victory.
“It’s a candy ending for this yr. It’s been a fantastic yr,” An mentioned.
“I’ve put quite a lot of work into it. It is going to be the identical subsequent week once I get again, one other low season that I’ve to work arduous for to be higher subsequent yr.”
Jack Milko is a golf employees author for SB Nation’s Enjoying By way of. Make sure you try @_PlayingThrough for extra golf protection. You possibly can comply with him on Twitter @jack_milko as properly.
