Byeong-hun An is relishing a return to the Rolex Trophy this week where he will look to claim a maiden title as the promising Korean continues his steady progress on the European Challenge Tour.
An arrived on the circuit to much intrigue, having broken the record as the youngest player to win the prestigious US Amateur Championship in 2009 – beating the mark set by the likes of Tiger Woods and New Zealand’s Danny Lee.
While he did not make an instant impact on Europe’s second tier, the 22 year old has been steadily improving year on year, and in his third season he is currently in line to graduate to The European Tour thanks to his seventh place on the Rankings.
An has come close to a first victory on numerous occasions, with three runner up finishes under his belt in the past two years and, following a top five result at last week’s Vacon Open, he is in confident mood as he joins the 44-man field at the prestigious Golf Club de Genève.
“I love it there,” said An, of this week’s venue in the Swiss capital Geneva. “The Pro-Am format is always fun and it’s a limited field so it’s always great to be there.
“The food is great and the town itself is awesome. It’s a relaxing week so I’m looking forward to it. It’s a big week money-wise for the Rankings too.
“If I play well, I feel like I can do well on any course but I like that one. It’s small and they are tricky greens so hopefully it will be in good condition this year.
“I'm hitting it great at the moment so if I putt well out there I think I can do well. In the last few weeks I’ve been hitting it really well. The putts just didn’t drop in Azerbaijan or Norway but in Finland I was driving well and holing a few putts.”
Having enjoyed such a stellar amateur career, An has been a model of consistent progress since joining the Challenge Tour in 2012, finishing 82nd in the Rankings in that first year before edging closer to the top 15 in 2013 with a 25th place finish.
This year the American-based player has added a much higher level of consistency to his game, making 14 cuts in 19 events on The European Tour and Challenge Tour, while also proving that he can cut it on the big stage with a tied 26th place finish at The Open Championship last month.
“Hopefully this season will be the one that I make it to The European Tour,” said An. “I just hope I can keep hitting the right shots and the putts can drop for the rest of the season.
“I think I’ve definitely learned a lot over the last couple of years, you can see by the results that I'm improving every year, so that’s great.
“The Open gave me a lot of confidence. I went on to finish second the following week in France and the thing was, I learned how to play smart in Hoylake.
“There were a lot of bunkers in play and you had to know where to miss and not miss, I was just trying not to miss and keep focussed all the way. That helped me the following week too.
“The courses are really hard on The European Tour and especially at the Majors. There are some holes where you just take your par and get out of there. Then at some of the holes you really have to make a birdie.
“That’s what the best players in the world do well, they have to have the skills to hit it where they want, obviously, but they play smart and that was one of the big things I learned.”
While the Rankings leader Moritz Lampert will not be present, owing to the fact he is now a fully-fledged European Tour player thanks to his three victories this season, there is still an all-star cast in Geneva hoping to follow in the footsteps of 2013 winner Jens Dantorp of Sweden.
Englishman Andrew Johnston and Jake Roos of South Africa will both be hoping to emulate Germany's Lampert by claiming a career-changing third title of the season, while Jordi Garcia Pinto of Spain will be determined to climb back to the summit of the Rankings having spent much of the season on top.
The Rolex Trophy is one of the longest-running events in the history of the Challenge Tour and has provided a launchpad for many players down the years on their journey to The European Tour.
Last year Dantorp was the second successive Swede to lift the trophy, following 2012 winner Kristoffer Broberg, who earned automatic graduation to The Race to Dubai as it was his third victory of the year.
It was an identical situation for 2011 champion Benjamin Hebert, who returns this week having claimed the fourth Challenge Tour title of his career at the recent Norwegian Challenge.
