Byeong Hun An will take a two-stroke lead into the weekend at the Genesis Championship as he seeks a first victory on home soil in more than nine years.
The South Korean started the second round one shot behind overnight lead Ivan Cantero, but moved clear as he reached 11-under-par after a six-under round of 66 at Jack Nicklaus Golf Club in Incheon.
Despite bogeys on back-to-back holes on the fifth and sixth, An played the front nine in three under as he carded five birdies.
He then made three further gains on the back nine, with his consecutive birdies on 15 and 16 opening a gap between Italy’s Francesco Laporta and Casey Jarvis of South Africa, who share second on nine under.
The 33-year-old’s last victory home victory was at the 2015 Shinhan Donghae Open, just four months after he became the first Asian golfer to win the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.
The Genesis Championship is the final event of the DP World Tour’s ‘Back 9’ series of tournaments and the last opportunity for players to earn their playing rights for next season, with the top 114 on the Race to Dubai Rankings slated to keep their cards.
ZERO EXPECTATIONS
“Coming into this week I really didn’t have any expectations,” said An, whose last victory came at a Korn Ferry Tour event in 2022. “I really do like this home support. Hopefully there will be more people this weekend and I can feed off from them.
“It would be nice to hold the trophy on Sunday, but I haven’t been here [South Korea] for the last five years – six years in a tournament – so all I’m trying to do is show some good golf because they don’t see much of me, so I’ll try my best and see what happens.”
Portugal’s Ricardo Gouveia, who began the week in 154th on the rankings, improved his chance of retaining his playing rights after carding six birdies and a bogey to reach eight under. American Johannes Veerman was also at that mark following a matching 67 alongside Hoshino and Cantero in a tie for fourth.
Tom Kim was flawless in his three-under round of 69 to lead a trio at seven under, with Alejandro Del Rey and Matthew Southgate, another player battling to save his card.
PENGE’S PRESSURE PUTT
Sussex’s Marco Penge, who was in 115th position heading to South Korea, nervelessly birdied the last from four feet to make the cut on the line at -1 and boost his chances playing on the DP World Tour next year, while Eddie Pepperell, who started the week in 124th, birdied three of the last five holes to make the cut with a shot to spare on -2 to give himself a chance of extending his stay on Europe’s top tier tour.
For all the scores from the Genesis Championship, click here.