An has roller coaster 2nd round at Dubai Championship, moves up

November 20, 2015
South Korea's An Byeong-hun (Yonhap)

South Korea’s An Byeong-hun (Yonhap)

By Brian Han

It was a roller coaster round for An Byeong-hun on Friday at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.

The 24-year-old had the stuff to make a serious move up the leaderboard, but a few hiccups along the way yielded a 4-under 68 to put him in a tie for 13th.

An opted for accuracy over distance and although he lost nearly 20 yards off the tee, the ball made it into almost every single fairway.

But that didn’t always pay off.

When he did miss the fairway, which happened only twice, he ended up with a bogey on the par-4 10th hole and a double bogey on the par-5 15th.

The real difference maker came down to his putter. With two less putts needed today, An saw a two-stroke improvement on his score.

He ended his round with an eagle on the par-5 18th allowing him to pass ten other players on the leaderboard.

With a 6-under total, the South Korean sits six strokes behind leader Andy Sullivan heading into the weekend, who crafted a pair of 6-under 66s. The Englishman’s strengths lie in his approach shots this week resulting in only four missed greens over 36 holes.

World No. 3 Rory McIlroy comes nipping at his heels after another 4-under 69 to put him four strokes back of Sullivan.