Olympics Await Byeong Hun An & Collin Morikawa After The Open

Both former Cal players notched top-20 finishes at Scotland's Royal Troon Golf Course

Byeong Hun An / Rob Schumacher, Rob Schumacher / USA

Byeong Hun An no doubt departed Royal Troon Golf Course frustrated by bogeys on his final two holes Sunday, but the long-ago Cal player still posted his best finish ever at a major by earning a share of 13th place at The Open Championship.

From the often windy and rainy west coast of Scotland, the 32-year-old South Korean will now make his second trip to the Olympics, where the four-day golf competition in Paris begins on Aug. 1. An shot a final-round 71 on Sunday to finish at 1 over par.

An will be joined in the French capital by Cal grad Collin Morikawa, one of four Americans headed to the Olympics. The 27-year-old, ranked No. 6 in the world, carded a 71 and finished at plus-2 and in a tie for 16th on Sunday at the tournament he won three years ago.

A third ex-Golden Bear, Max Homa, had a tougher week in Scotland, finishing at plus-8 and tied for 43rd place after posting a 74 in the final round.

Homa isn’t headed to the Olympics, but the 60-player field will be headed by defending champion Xander Schauffele, who shot a bogey-free 65 on Sunday to capture The Open by a two-stroke margin at minus-9. 

Schauffele’s second major victory came just two months after he captured the PGA Championship. Americans have now won seven consecutive major titles, the longest such streak since 13 in a row from 1974 to ’77.

He is the first golfer since Brooks Koepka in 2018 to win two majors in the same year.

Also Paris-bound is England’s Justin Rose, the 2016 Olympic champion, who birdied the 18th hole to finish at 67 and tied for second place at minus-7. He shared that spot with American Billy Horschel, the third-round leader, who needed birdies on the final three holes to score a 68.

The Olympic field will feature golfers from 26 countries, including Ireland’s Rory McIlroy, Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg, Norway’s Viktor Hovland and Spain’s Jon Rahm. Americans competing in Paris, besides Morikawa and Schauffele, are top-ranked Scottie Scheffler and Wyndham Clark.

An, who spent just one year (2010-11) at Cal before turning pro, was tied for eighth place after a birdie on No. 16. But bogeys on the final two holes dropped him out of the top-10.

His previous best efforts in a major were finishing in a tie for 16th at the Masters this year and he 2019 U.S. Open. While making the cut for the seventh time at the 152nd edition of the British event, he improved on his tie for 23rd place last year.

A return tip to the Olympics adds to a rich family heritage at the Games. An tied for 11th at the inaugural Olympic golf tournament at Rio in 2016.

His parents both participated in table tennis at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul with his mother, Ji-Min Cho, earning a silver medal in women’s doubles and a bronze in women’s singles for China, while his father, Ahn Jae-hyung, was a bronze medalist in men’s doubles for South Korea and currently coaches the country’s women’s team.

Morikawa barely missed earning a medal at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago, losing in a playoff for the bronze position. 

He began Sunday tied for 15th, shot an even par that included just one birdie and one bogey, and wound up tied for 16th — his 10th consecutive top-20 finish.

Homa, who has seen his world ranking slide from No. 7 starting the year to No. 15, figures to slip a bit further after breaking par just once in four days.

He began Sunday with a birdie, then posted bogeys on Nos. 6, 10, 11 and 13 to prevent him from climbing the leaderboard.