GOLF: New LIV golfer Ben An relying on AI to acclimate to global schedule

Byeong Hun An, also known as Ben An, is stepping into the LIV Golf scene for the first time—and he’s bringing some high-tech tools along for the ride.

An is one of the newest additions to the 2026 LIV Golf roster and serves as the captain of the newly rebranded Korean Golf Club. The four-man team is made up entirely of golfers with Korean heritage, including Danny Lee, who was born in South Korea but competes under the New Zealand flag.

“We're all good friends, and hopefully we can play good golf,” An said Monday during an introductory press conference. “I'm very excited for the season. It's my first year; feels like the first school year.”

The Korean Golf Club will spend a lot of time together, especially with a busy schedule that takes the team across the globe. The season opens this week in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with events planned in Australia, Asia, Africa, Europe, and North America. This year also includes the anticipated second edition of LIV Golf Korea, expected to take place in May.

Having spent most of his career on the PGA Tour in the United States, An said he is now relying on artificial intelligence to help plan his travel and prepare his body for peak performance.

“I use ChatGPT and Gemini,” An explained. “I put in my flight schedule and everything, including what time of day we're playing because it's set every week with a shotgun start. I try to utilize that a lot because I don't know much about how to get my body ready.

“Especially this week, I put in all the flights and numbers, so it's like, ‘All right, sleep at this time, try to do this and that to maximize performance on the golf course at 6:05 p.m.’ That's what I did, and I'll probably do that for the next couple of events because we'll go through different time zones. With the longer flights and the physio support on our team, we'll use all the resources and information available to get my body ready for tournament days.”

An, 34, first gained international attention as the youngest winner of the U.S. Amateur in 2009 at just 17. He reached a career-high world ranking of No. 22 in late 2024 after winning the Genesis Championship in Korea, defeating countryman Tom Kim in a playoff at Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea.

While An has yet to claim a PGA Tour title, he tied for fourth at the Baycurrent Classic in Japan this past October, marking his third top-10 finish of 2025. -Field Level Media/Reuters