An Byeong-hun backdoors Top 10 finish at Arnold Palmer Invitational

Golf

Published: 11 Mar. 2024, 10:48

An Byeong-hun backdoors Top 10 finish at Arnold Palmer Invitational

Korea's An Byeong-hun hits a tee shot on the seventh hole during the second round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard at Arnold Palmer Bay Hill Golf Course on Friday in Orlando, Florida. [AFP/YONHAP]

Korea’s An Byeong-hun produced his third Top 10 of the season at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard on Sunday as World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler romped to a dominant five-stroke victory which sets him up perfectly for his upcoming title defence at The Players Championship.

With Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama, who started the final round at Bay Hill just two off the lead, fading with a disappointing 76, an in-form An ensured an Asian presence on the final leaderboard with a closing 68 to jump from T31 to T8 position, some 11 strokes back of Scheffler. Matsuyama finished tied for 12th, with Korea's Im Sung-jae finishing in a share of 18th place following a 74.

It was An’s second Top 10 at the $20 million Signature Event, held in honor of 62-time PGA Tour champion Arnold Palmer, and the 32-year-old can now look forward to The Players, which begins at The Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass from Thursday.

“I think I'm feeling good right now, and if I make fewer mistakes, I think I can do well next week,” said An, who was fourth at The Sentry and lost in a playoff at the Sony Open in Hawaii in January.

An bookended his round with bogeys on the first and 18th holes, while he made birdies on Hole Nos. 6 to 8, and on the 11th, 15th and 16th. He struck the ball quite impressively on another tough scoring day. An was only one of four players to shoot scores in the 60s and ranked second in Strokes Gained: Approach to Green while making putts of 28 feet and 22 feet on the seventh and eighth holes.

Korea's An Byeong-hun reacts to a tee shot on the ninth hole during the third round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard at Arnold Palmer Bay Hill Golf Course on Saturday in Orlando, Florida. [GETTY IMAGES]

With his U.S. homebase being in Orlando and some 30 minutes from Bay Hill, An did leave the tournament with a tinge of disappointment where he lamented a third-round 76 on Saturday. “It's one of my favorite courses. I was looking forward to this week because I think the golf course suits me well, but I was disappointed with my performance yesterday. I hope I can come back next year and do well,” said An, who will rise to fifth position on the latest FedExCup standings.

“I don't think I did anything particularly well today compared to yesterday, but I think I birdied the holes I should have birdied and hit some good shots to get to 4 under.”

Scheffler fired the day’s lowest round with a bogey-free 66 to secure his seventh PGA Tour victory with his winning total of 15-under. It was his first title in nearly a year following his last success at the 2023 Players, the PGA Tour's flagship tournament, and his margin of victory was the largest since Tiger Woods won by five in 2012. It was also Scheffler’s second title in three years at Bay Hill.

“It's really special. Mr. Palmer meant a lot to me, meant a lot to us as professional golfers and the game of golf, and so it's very special to be able to sit here and wear his red sweater again,” said the 27-year-old, who has now won seven times since the 2021-22 Season, which is the most by any player on Tour during that span.

“Like some of you all had mentioned, it had been a while since I won. I did win in the Bahamas, but as far as a PGA Tour event, it had been almost a year, and so there had been a lot of chatter about my game and the state of where it was at, and so it was nice to kind of come in here with a good mental attitude and to perform well under pressure and I think today's round was really special for me going forward.”

Reigning U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark finished as runner-up after a 70 while co-overnight leader Shane Lowry settled for third place after a 72.

BY CHUAH CHOO CHIANG [kjdsports@joongang.co.kr]