South Korean An Byeong-hun became only the third European Tour rookie to win the BMW PGA Championship in the 60-year history of the event when he roared to a spectacular six-shot victory on Sunday.
The 23-year-old went into the final round in a tie for the lead with Italian Francesco Molinari, and pieced together a nerveless seven-under 65 to finish with a 21-under total of 267 on a grey but humid day at Wentworth.
An’s triumph earned him a check for 833,330 euros (US$917,913) and meant he joined British pair Bernard Gallacher (1969) and Scott Drummond (2004) as rookie winners of the tour’s flagship event.
Photo: AFP
Spain’s Miguel Angel Jimenez (67) and Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee (69) shared second place, two ahead of Briton Chris Wood, who recorded a hole-in-one at the 14th on the way to a closing 66.
Molinari ballooned to a 74 to finish fifth on 276.
“I’m over the moon,” An told the presentation ceremony after setting a new BMW PGA scoring record in relation to par. “I wasn’t expecting this. I didn’t know a win was this close and I never thought I would win this event.”
An, whose best previous finish on the tour came when he was tied for fifth at the Qatar Masters in January, streaked clear of his title rivals with three birdies and an eagle on the back nine.
His second professional victory helped him become the first Asian to win the flagship event and also secured a five-year tour exemption in Europe.
‘LIFE-CHANGING’
“It’s going to be life changing,” said An, the son of two Olympic table-tennis medalists — his mother, Jiao Zhimin, represented China and his father, Ahn Jae Hyung, competed for South Korea.
“This is the biggest event on the European Tour and there are a lot of benefits. I played really well today and had all the confidence going into the last couple of holes.”
Wood won a sports car from the sponsors after using a seven-iron to ace the 163m 14th.
“It was a cracker of a shot,” Wood said. “I think my caddie was more excited than I was.”
Jimenez claimed a tour record 10th career hole-in-one in the third round and Wood explained that he had a chat with the 51-year-old Spaniard on Saturday night.
“I bumped into Miguel and said: ‘When is it my turn?’ All the players, we sort of looked at the 14th on Tuesday [last week] when we had a practice round and we thought: ‘Wouldn’t it be nice?’”
Wood’s ace came shortly after Trevor Fisher Jr had a hole-in-one at the second, but there was no prize for the South African’s effort.
There were five aces at this week’s championship, another tournament record.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care