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Golfer An Byeong-hun leaves PGA Tour after more than a decade to join LIV's Korean Golf Club

Published: 14 Jan. 2026, 13:58 Updated: 14 Jan. 2026, 17:32

An Byeong-hun tees off on the second hole during the third round of the Baycurrent Classic at the Yokohama Country Club in Yokohama, Japan, on Oct. 11, 2025. [AP/YONHAP]

An Byeong-hun has left the PGA Tour after more than a decade to join the Korean Golf Club on LIV Golf, the Saudi Arabia-backed tour announced on Tuesday.

The PGA veteran joins other fellow Korean golfers, such as Km Min-kyu and Song Young-han, at the club, formerly known as the Iron Heads Golf Club.

An's departure from the PGA comes after 228 events, in which he earned 30 top-10, five runner-up and four third-place finishes.

Though he did not earn a title on the tour, he made $21.53 million in career prize money, one of the highest totals for a player without a win, and can claim prestigious titles on the DP World Tour by accumulating points based on his world ranking as a member of the LIV.

Still, An remains keen on winning a title.

“If the god of golf appeared and asked if I’d rather win one major tournament once or one regular tournament every year for five years, I would choose the [former] without hesitation,” he said.

Though he ended his time with the PGA without a trophy, his career remains impressive, especially for how early it began and how quickly it developed.

The son of Olympic medalists, he started playing golf at a young age and won the U.S. Amateur Golf Championship in 2009 at age 17, becoming the youngest winner in the tournament's history at the time.

An Byeong-hun's father, An Jae-hyung, is a former table tennis player who won a bronze medal at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. His mother, Jiao Zhimin, is also a former table tennis player who earned a silver medal at the same Olympics.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY SUNG HO-JUN [[email protected]]