This ready-made veteran never fails to surprise, especially at crucial moments.
Just ask Ahn Byung-hun, who pulled off a minor miracle in his native South Korea on Sunday. In the final round of the Genesis Championship, the final event of the DP World Tour regular season, Ahn was two shots behind with four holes to play. He needed to make a move, so on the fairway of the par-5 15th (293 yards away), Ann pulled out his driver.
“It's a big gamble,” said the DP World Tour announcer.
With water in short supply and being on the left side of the green, Ann's hopes may have been dashed. But his ready driver rocketed onto the green and came to rest just eight feet short of the pin. He missed his chance at eagle, but managed to save a birdie.
“I was two shots behind. I had a great driver on the front nine, so I thought, 'This is the guy who can do this,'” Ahn said of his shot on the 15th hole.
“The layup wasn’t that easy and it was so close to the pin, so the driver was exactly what I planned, and it’s a shame I missed that putt, but I thought that was the shot I needed at the time and that got me Birdie on the next hole I felt like it was the right shot, a little aggressive, but I knew I could make it.”
Ahn added two more birdies on the final three holes to force a playoff with Tom Kim, who also finished at 17 under. Kim had a chance to win outright but failed on the 18th hole, setting the stage for an all-Korean playoff.
In the playoff, King airballed on the 18th green, resulting in a bogey. As a result, Ahn had two putts to win and easily clinch the title – his first professional victory since 2015, when he won the Shinhan Donghae Open on the Korean Tour in September. In May of the same year, he also won the BMW PGA Championship, his only other DP World Tour victory.
“It's a sweet ending to this year. It's been a great year,” Ann said.
“I've put a lot of work into this. It'll be the same thing when I come back next week, it's another offseason and I have to work hard to get better next year.”
Jack Milko is the golf staff writer for SB Nation's Playing Through. Be sure to check it out @_PlayingThrough Get more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jackmilko as well as.
