Palm Harbor (USA), March 22 : South Korea's Byeong Hun An hopes a mind shift in his mental approach will steer him to a maiden PGA Tour victory after charging into contention at the Valspar Championship with a 4-under 67 on Friday.

The 33-year-old An hit five birdies against a lone bogey at Innisbrook Resort (Copperhead Course) in Palm Harbor, Florida where his 5-under total was good for tied second place alongside Japan's Ryo Hisatsune (66) and 2023 FedExCup champion, Viktor Hovland (67). American Jacob Bridgeman leads the USD 8.7 million tournament by one stroke after a 69.

Chinese Taipei's Kevin Yu and three-time PGA Tour winner, Tom Kim sit in a share of 14th after rounds of 68 and 66 respectively as the Asian contingent showed up in strength on the second day.

After making his Tour Championship debut and winning a second DP World Tour title at the Genesis Championship at the end of last season, An took time to get his game into high gear in 2025. He needed seven starts before posting his first top-10 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard earlier this month and was T52 at The Players Championship last weekend.

'I'm quite happy. I'm hitting it pretty well. I had some great short game moments out there. Putting's pretty decent. It's been pretty good the last three weeks, not missing many putts. It's not like everything's going in, but I love to have this kind of putting display the last few weeks, so I hope this keeps going. I think I'm hitting it a lot better than the beginning of the year, so hopefully this stays this way, too,' said An.

He reckoned he became too result-oriented with his approach which led to the slow start in the new season which yielded three missed cuts in his first six tournaments before finishing T8 at Bay Hill. His ball striking through 36 holes at Innisbrook has been immaculate as he ranks in the top 20 for Strokes Gained: Off the Tee (8th) and Approach the Green (16th).

'It's (swing) a little different than on the range. You get a little more kind of result base instead of making the swing I want to. I've been working on that the last couple weeks. It's been feeling a lot better, more toward the range, and still won't be the same as the range swing, but I'm working on trying to make the same range swing out on the course as well,' said An, who holds five career runner-up finishes on Tour.

The powerful Korean won on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2022 at the LECOM Suncoast Classic, which location isn't too far away from Innisbrook and hopes the Florida vibes will shine brightly this weekend as he chases a first PGA Tour win.

'I mean this year obviously win a Tour event and finish in the Tour Championship. That would be my goal, like every year,' said An.

'I lost my card in 2022 and then that (LECOM Suncoast Classic) was I think the third event for me. Now I'm back on the TOUR, but that third event helped a lot. It helped regain my confidence and it was kind of easy for the rest of the year because I had a win under my belt. So that was definitely a big confidence booster because I had a terrible year before.'

Hisatsune, 22, fired seven birdies against two bogeys for a 66 which propelled him into contention. The young Japanese rising star converted two lengthy birdie putts from nearly 30 feet on the third and eighth holes as he chases a maiden Tour win. He ranked fifth in Strokes Gained: Putting on Friday.

'I'm very happy. These last few weeks very tough weeks. Then I was like a little nervous on the start. But the start was a good birdie, and then we get moving and I feel more comfortable,' said Hisatsune, whose season includes one top-10 in Mexico and four missed cuts including at last week's Players.

/IANS