Next 48 hours are critical if Thailand’s Kiradech and Korea’s An, Noh are to retain their PGA Tour cards

NEWBURGH, Ind. – Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat and Korean duo Byeong Hun An and Seungyul Noh lived to see another day at the Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance as the trio kept alive hopes of regaining their PGA TOUR cards.

Kiradech carded a 4-under 68 in the second round on Friday to move up to a share of 13th place at Victoria National Golf Club alongside An, who returned a 69 for a 4-under 140 total. They are six shots back of leader Trey Mullinax. Noh, who is a one-time winner on the PGA TOUR, fired a 68 for tied 25th position.

With this week’s event being the final tournament of the Korn Ferry Tour Finals, which will reward the top-25 players with PGA TOUR members, Kiradech moved to a projected 22nd place, An up to 40th and Noh in 29th position.

“There were a lot of good things in there, a bunch of birdies in the first two rounds but I also made a couple of easy mistakes. I’ll try to fix it as if you hit more fairways, it’s easy to make birdies,” said Kiradech, who has played on the PGA TOUR for three seasons, but lost his card after finishing outside the top-125 of the FedExCup standings last month.

The burly Thai needs a projected two-way tie of 17th place or better to stay in the top-25 and regain his TOUR membership but has continued to endure some nerves. After getting to six-under for his round through 11 holes, Kiradech dropped three bogeys in his closing five holes against one more birdie. Two weeks ago, he was tied second going into the final round before finishing tied 20th and was in the top-10 last week before shooting a back nine 40 on Sunday.

“My putting was very good but ball striking still have a lot of work to do. I wasn’t good enough with some irons into the greens. A couple of bogeys coming from the middle of the fairway which is not good enough. I think I can still do better. I just want to go out and enjoy every single minute in this tournament,” said Kiradech.

After missing the cut in the first two Korn Ferry Tour Finals events, An has showed marked improvements this week, hitting 16 greens in his second round and currently ranking tied third for greens hit in regulation. He turned in 36 with two birdies against as many dropped shots before making birdies on Hole Nos. 11, 15 and 18. An, who has played on the PGA TOUR since 2016, needs a projected two-way tie for fifth or better to have a chance of regaining his PGA TOUR card.