TULSA, Okla. – The Masters youth movement for the 2010 Tournament continued to grow, along with its worldwide golf expansion, with Korean teenager Byeong-Hun An earning a spot in next year’s Masters and becoming the youngest winner in U.S. Amateur history.

An, 17, who moved to the United States more than three years ago to concentrate on his golf game at a Florida golf academy, will be a high school senior when he tees it up at Augusta National Golf Club April 5-11, 2010.

“I must say it is like a dream to play at Augusta,” he said following a 7-and-5 victory over Clemson senior Ben Martin, a decade-plus annual Masters patron who also qualified for next year’s Masters Tournament.

“I worked hard to get into the (Amateur) tournament, but to win and go play in the Masters is amazing,” An added.

An will join fellow teenager Matteo Manassero, who won the British Amateur this summer, in the 2010 Masters. Manassero, 16, will become the youngest player in Tournament history when he plays next year.

An has never been to the Masters or to Augusta, Ga., and said when he was growing up in Korea he never watched the tournament live on TV because it would come on too late at night.

Now he will be playing in the 2010 Tournament, traditionally paired with the defending champion. Rest assured his friends back home in Seoul, South Korea, will be setting their alarms to watch him.

“We will have a lot of people here, that is for sure,” he said of his early plans for next year’s event. His dad Yae caddied for him during his U.S. Amateur victory at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa and will fill the same role, at least for the Par 3 Contest on Wednesday.

Both of An’s parents were Olympic medalists in table tennis, but their son had other plans. A brief visit convinced An moving to the United States was the best remedy to improve his golf game, without family or even knowing any English.

“It doesn’t matter if you are young or not, it only matters how hard you work,” An said. “I have worked very hard and I am very happy for this opportunity.”

While everything will be new for An and his family at next year’s Masters, the journey for U.S. Amateur runner-up Martin will be a familiar and favorite return to a special place.

Martin, who is from Greenwood, S.C., about 60 miles from Augusta, has been to every Tournament since 1996. His grandparents are patron badge holders and Martin has been more than happy to soak up the rich Masters atmosphere.

“I’m glad I got to experience this in the past, but to be inside the ropes will be awesome,” he said.

“In my mind, this is the biggest tournament in the world. Some people may think it’s the U.S. Open, but to walk the grounds there (Augusta National), there is nothing else like it.”

Now he’ll have the opportunity to make many more Masters memories – playing with his golfing idols and spending a few nights in the amateurs’ traditional hangout, the Crow’s Nest, to name a few.

“That’s right. I hadn’t even thought about that,” Martin said. “I can’t wait for all of that now.”