Byeong-hun An, winner of the latest European Tour tournament, the BMW PGA Championship, finishing 21-under par, has said in an interview that he started playing golf because he was not athletic enough to compete at a high level in the sport he was really passionate about: table tennis.
The 23-year-old Korean player, in an interview after his first European Tour win, said his inspiration in the sport is his parents, Jae-hyung An and Jiao Zhimin, both medalists at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
On his beginnings in golf, he commented: “I wasn’t a sporty kid, I guess. Probably golf is the only sport I can play. I’m really slow and heavy [risas]. I never thought about playing ping-pong. That’s what my parents said, too, I don’t think you can play ping-pong. I don’t think I’m fast enough.”
An, at 1.89 meters tall and weighing 94 kilos, is bigger than most golfers. Rory McIlroy is 6’5″ and weighs 73, and Masters winner Jordan Spieth is 6’6″ and weighs 83 kilograms.
Thanks to his victory at the BMW PGA Championship, the Korean player climbed up the world ranking to the top-60 and earned an invitation to the next two majors: the US Open in June and the British Open in July.
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