Ahn Byeong-hun wins runner-up prize as invited player at Zurich Classic

Ahn Byeong-hun (25), a new ace player in the Korean professional golf community, has won the runner-up prize of a PGA Tour tournament. In the third round of the 2016 Zurich Classic golf tournament at TPC Louisiana in Avondale on Monday local time, Ahn had seven birdies without any bogey to finish the tournament 15-under 201 overall.

Ahn had a playoff with Jamie Lovemark and Brian Stuard, before losing the race. It was regrettable that he had a bogey by hitting the ground at his fourth shot, after hanging around roughs due to mistakes in his third and fourth shots in the playoff at Hole 18 (par 5).

Ahn narrowly lost the winner’s trophy at the championship as an invited golfer. Ahn is currently playing in the European tour, but has achieved his best career performance in the PGA Tour and meaningful outcome, while earning 616,000 U.S. dollars in prize money, and elevating his world ranking to 24th (highest among Korean players) from 31st last week.

More than anything, he displayed potential that he could advance directly to the PGA Tour, which is his ultimate goal. Ahn took on challenge at the PGA Tour in 2011 but ended up in failure. By joining the league of top 10 players in the latest event, Ahn has earned a berth to participate in the Wells Fargo Championship of the PGA Tour, which kicks off on Thursday.

In May, he will also take part in the Players Championship, dubbed "the firth major" event. “If Ahn Byeong-hun makes it to the top 125 players in the FedEx Cub at year’s end by displaying steady performance, he can secure the right to participate in the PGA Tour next season,” said ISM Asia, Ahn’s management agency.

Banking on his recent strides, Ahn also stands a stronger chance to win a medal at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics. He played long-distance shots whose average flying distance amounted to 292.8 yards, and the driver shot accuracy ratio of about 80 percent. “I feel sorry that I finished second, but I don’t regret my performance. I have expectations for the next event," Ahn said.

In the meanwhile, Stuard had his first career win in the tournament, which was scaled down to a third-round event due to bad weather.

김종석기자 kjs0123@donga.com