Family man Byeong rides Scottish Open confidence to Hoylake

Byeong Hun An returns to the majors for the first time in two years at The Open Championship to mark a career revival which has been sparked largely by a happy family life and a swing coach whom he calls the “Gandhi of the golf world”.

The 31-year-old earned his slot at the year’s final major following a tied third finish at the Genesis Scottish Open last Sunday, his best result of the season, the PGA Tour said.

A week in Scotland, where he was the first round leader with an opening 61, was a reminder that An was once a top-25 golfer and featured in the 2019 Presidents Cup before he lost his card in 2021.

From 332nd in the world in early 2022, An is back in the top-100 and will make his ninth Open appearance as the 85th ranked golfer in the world, hoping to return to the top-25.

“It’s a bonus, it’s a major and this is where all the best players are. Hopefully I can have another good finish this week,” said An. “From the comeback last year when I lost my card, this year I feel like I’m playing a lot better, and more steady golf. It feels like I’m playing better golf than three, four years back.”

His return to top form, where he has three top-10s and seven other top-25s has coincided with a growing family comprising of two young children with his wife, Jamie. Like many others, returning to a hotel room or his Orlando home with his young family waiting after a hard day in the office has been a source of joy, if not an outlet to leave his work stress behind at the golf course.

With both parents being Olympians in table tennis, An has received all the support needed to climb out of the slump.

“Family life’s been great. It takes your mind away from golf. After tournaments, you go back and you have kids around, you don’t have time to think about golf. Obviously when you’re at a golf course, you want to think about golf, you want to work hard. But when you’re home, you’re with your family. It’s nice to have their support,” said An.

“Fortunately, I’ve been travelling quite a bit with my family this year which has been fun. At least I get to see them grow a little bit. It’s the best, it’s like a normal life. When the family is around, there are more things to do. You go out for a walk, play with the kids or whatever. It takes the mind away from golf. That helps a lot especially when you’ve a bad day.”

A former US Amateur winner, An also paid tribute to swing coach Sean Foley, who has worked with the likes of Tiger Woods and Justin Rose. When An started working with Foley in early 2021, he endured his worst campaign and lost his card before regaining status through the Korn Ferry Tour last year.

“He’s been a very important team member,” said An of Foley. “Apart from golf, he helps a lot with things away from the game. He talks about other stuff, and not just how to play. There are some things which are unteachable by other people, and he’s been a big help.

“I have lessons with him twice a week in Lake Nona and we hit balls for two hours and I’ll probably hit like only 100 balls, and we talk for an hour and a half about other stuff, like the mindset. Golf is a game between your ears and it’s a very complicated, hard game and we want to get our mind to be very strong. He’s very unique.

“When I won on the Korn Ferry Tour last year, he called every night and said stuff like ‘Hey Ben just don't forget every shot … just one shot at a time. Don't think about the next hole, don’t think about the last hole. Just stay in the present.’

“He's almost like, a Gandhi of the golf world. He has a very strong mindset and I like it. He likes watching motivational videos and reading books and he’ll send videos, which are never about someone else’s golf swing, but inspirational quotes and things with perspective in life. I read it all the time.

“It's not easy. Obviously, it is very competitive and if I look back, I’ve won on the Korean Tour, Challenge Tour, Korn Ferry Tour and European Tour (DP World Tour). Maybe there's more pressure but winning is great and it comes with good golf.

“Finishing top-10, top-5, that requires good golf but winning, you need to play good golf or you have to get very lucky too. Who knows, I might get lucky in the coming years but if you finish top five, top-10 in a lot of weeks, that's still good golf,” he said.

“I just want to try to play a bit better and get into the Tour Championship. Top-50 in the world is hard to do as there are so many good players out there. I think it just follows when you play good golf consistently in the big events. I’m just happy with where it’s been going, and how I’ve been swinging it and getting better which is my main goal.

“I want to be the best I can potentially be. It might be 50th in the world, might be 100th in the world. You never know. I don't want to set the bar. Why would I set the limit when I don't know what the limit is? I don't know how good I can be.”