Ben An shared a touching moment with his grandmother at the Genesis Championship.
@DPWorldTour
Ben An there have been bigger wins in his career than this weekend’s triumph in the Genesis Championship in his native South Korea.
But has he had more meaning? It is difficult to say.
It wasn’t An, I stepped up to the 18th freeway at Jack Nicklaus Golf Club in South Korea and on the verge of a playoff victory over compatriot Tom Kim. And there, on the 18th green, stood a figure who had never seen a victory of any kind: his grandmother.
An stepped up to the green, stared down a 6-footer for a tournament-defending birdie, and drained it. He took a big deep breath as the usual corpse hugs progressed, looked up at the sky, and then glanced down at the green on the 18th where his family stood waiting.
By the time An succeeded, tears were welling up. First with his wife, Jamie, then with his parents and finally with his grandmother, with gray hair and glasses.
As An wrapped his grandmother in a hug, the tears really began to fall, falling on large cheekbones. It was the rarest kind of vindication moment for An – the chance to celebrate it in the presence of most of your loved ones.
“I mean, — yeah — I’m still emotional about it,” An said, wiping tears from his eyes, in a post-round interview with DP World Tour. “I didn’t think I’d be so excited after winning.”
The reason for the tears, he explained, was his grandmother. Although she had lived with Annie for many of the formative years of his golfing life, she had never seen him lift a trophy before. All the years of golf – and the many successes – had come with Grandma watching from the sidelines.
“I saw my mother, I saw my grandmother. Yeah, my grandma lived with me for 10 years, 12 years in the US, and she’s my biggest supporter,” said one. “It’s the first time she’s seen me lift a trophy in person. My parents have seen me win tour, my wife has seen me win on the Korn Ferry Tour, but my grandmother has never seen me win a tour in her life, so it was very exciting.”
You can watch the full interview of Ani’s touching interaction – and his follow-up interview – below on DP World Tour’s social channels.
