Byeong-Hun An continues to rewrite the record books.
An, who in 2009 became the youngest ever to win the U.S. Amateur at the age of 17, became the first Asian to win the European Tour Rookie of the Year on Friday.
The 24-year-old South Korean won the European Tour’s flagship event, the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth in May - setting a new tournament scoring record in the process - and closed out the year strong with a seventh-place finish in the season-long Race to Dubai after top-four finishes in three of the four Final Series events.
''It’s great to be part of that history,’' said An. ''I’m the first Asian to win it, and hopefully it will help bring more Asian players to play on the European Tour.’'
very honored to receive @EuropeanTour Rookie of the Year award.
— Byeong Hun An (@ByeongHunAn) December 4, 2015
An, the second-highest-ranked Asian player in the world at No. 31, edged out 21-year-old Englishman Matthew Fitzpatrick for the award to join the likes of Tony Jacklin, Nick Faldo, Jose Maria Olazabal, Sergio Garcia, and Martin Kaymer in European Tour history.
Fitzpatrick, who earnd his first professional victory this year at the British Masters, took the loss in stride, tweeting his congratulations to An:
Obviously gutted I didn't win Rookie Of The Year thought I'd done enough in the events I played but hats off to Ben
— Matt Fitzpatrick (@MattFitz94) December 4, 2015