10 Things You Didn't Know About Ben An

10 Things You Didn't Know About Ben An

1. His nickname is Ben but his proper name is An Byeong-hun. 

2. His parents are Jae Hyung Ahn and Zhimin Jiao. Both parents participated in table tennis at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea, with his mom earning a silver (women's doubles) and bronze (women's singles) medal for China, and his dad picking up a bronze (men's doubles) for South Korea.

3. An moved to the United States in December 2005 to attend the David Leadbetter Golf Academy in Bradenton, Florida.

4. He would also attend the University of California-Berkeley after being one of the most highly sought after recruits in the United States at the time.

5. In August 2009 An became the youngest-ever winner of the U.S. Amateur when he defeated Ben Martin 7 & 5 in the 36-hole final at Southern Hills Country Club in Oklahoma. He was 17 at the time.

6. In May 2015, he won the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth which his first and only win on the DP World Tour. He has also lost in a playoff twice on the PGA Tour - at the 2016 Zurich Classic of New Orleans, and then the 2018 Memorial Tournament.

7. When An turned professional in 2011, he followed a piece of advice from Wally Uihlein, Titleist’s Chief Executive, to play in Europe and earned a spot on the Challenge Tour via qualifying school.

8. In December 2019, An played on the International team at the 2019 Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne Golf Club. An went 1–2–2 and lost his Sunday singles match against Webb Simpson, and the US narrowly won 16-14.

9. His birthday is September 17, 1991, and he was born in Seoul, South Korea.

10. His favorite course he has played is Augusta National and his favorite golf movie is Happy Gilmore.