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An Byeong-hun comes up just short at BMW Masters

November 16, 2015

An Byeong-Hun of South Korea reacts on the 18th hole after missing a putt during the final round of the BMW Masters golf tournament at the Lake Malaren Golf Club in Shanghai, China Sunday, Nov. 15, 2015. (AP Photo)

By Brian Han

South Korea has a new rising star in An Byeong-hun.

The 24-year-old moved up eight spots in the world ranking to 39th after a third place finish at the 2015 BMW Masters — one of the European PGA Tour’s most coveted titles.

The performance solidified An as the best player the country has to offer, but he came up just short on the 72nd hole following a narrowly missed birdie putt that would have put him in a playoff with Patrick Reed and eventual winner Kristoffer Broberg.

An shot a 2-under 70 Sunday and finished just one stroke off the lead with a 16-under total.

He struck the ball well throughout the round, but the deciding factor came down to his putter.

“It was so close today,” he told reporters. “Missed a couple birdie putts I think, and well, as I say, it wasn’t a poor effort. I gave everything. Would have been nice if I dropped more putts.”

Meanwhile, first-time winner Broberg had a secret weapon in his bag that helped him roll putts in consistently throughout the weekend.

Last week, in my coach’s studio in Sweden, I was putting indoors and was like, ‘I’m not putting good,’ so I just look in my coach’s wife’s bag,” he revealed. “I just tried (her putter) and the stroke was much, much better and the technique, so I just keep it. And it was pretty good.”

An’s solid performance this season on the European PGA Tour, which included a win back in May at the BMW Championship, qualifies him for the final event of the 2015 season, the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.

The event will host some of the world’s elite including world No. 3 Rory McIlroy, No. 5 Justin Rose and No. 6 Henrik Stenson.

The South Korean feels pretty good about his chances heading into the stiff competition.

“I’ve been playing well,” he said when asked about whether he’ll be able to keep his momentum. “It feels like today wasn’t my best day, and hopefully next week I’ll have more best days… I’ll be in contention again.”