K. J. Choi

This is a Korean name; the family name is Choi.

K. J. Choi 최경주
— Golfer —
Choi in June 2011
Personal information
Full name	Choi Kyung-Ju
Nickname	Tank, Hawkeye^[1]
Born	(1970-05-19) 19 May 1970 Wando, South Korea
Height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Weight	185 lb (84 kg)
Nationality	South Korea
Residence	Dallas, Texas
Spouse	Hyunjung Kim^[1]
Children	David, Amanda, Daniel^[1]
Career
College	Gwangju University
Turned professional	1994
Current tour(s)	PGA Tour (joined 2000)
Former tour(s)	Asian Tour Japan Golf Tour
Professional wins	22
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour	8
European Tour	1
Japan Golf Tour	2
Asian Tour	6
Other	5
Best results in major championships
Masters Tournament	3rd: 2004
U.S. Open	T15: 2005, 2012
The Open Championship	T8: 2007
PGA Championship	T6: 2004

Korean name
Hangul	최경주
Hanja	崔京周
Revised Romanization	Choe Gyeong-ju
McCune–Reischauer	Ch'oe Kyŏng-ju

Choi Kyung-Ju (Korean: 최경주, pronounced [tɕʰwe ɡjʌŋdʑu]; born 19 May 1970), commonly known as K. J. Choi, is a South Korean professional golfer who currently plays on the PGA Tour. Since turning pro in 1994, he has won a total of twenty professional golf tournaments worldwide, including eight on the PGA Tour, making him Asia's most successful golfer. His most notable victory came at the 2011 Players Championship, and he has spent 40 weeks in the top-10 of the world rankings.^[2]^[3]

Professional career

Choi turned professional in 1994 after fulfilling his military obligation.^[4]

After establishing his career on the Asian Tour, where he picked up his first professional win at the 1996 Korean Open, and the Japan Golf Tour, where he won twice in 1999, Choi qualified for membership of the U.S.-based PGA Tour by finishing tied 35th at the 1999 qualifying tournament. He was the first Korean to earn a PGA Tour card. In his rookie season in 2000 he finished 134th on the money list and had to requalify, but since 2001 he has been a consistent performer on the tour. In 2002 he became the first Korean to win on the PGA Tour at the Compaq Classic of New Orleans, and followed it up with another victory at the Tampa Bay Classic later that year.

In 2003 he won the Linde German Masters on the European Tour, his first and only win to date on the European Tour.^[5]

Choi won Jack Nicklaus's Memorial Tournament in 2007. He mentioned on CBS during the AT&T National that he read Jack Nicklaus's "Golf My Way" book early in his golf career, which assisted him in becoming the golfer he is today.

Choi won the first AT&T National hosted by Tiger Woods at the Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland. The trophy is a small replica of the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, DC. He made a spectacular sand trap shot on the 17th hole for a birdie to clinch the win over Steve Stricker by 3 shots. Choi was a crowd favorite and threw his golf ball into the crowd after holing his sand shot on the 17th hole.

In August 2007 he reached the top 10 of the world rankings for the first time. In January 2008, Choi won the Sony Open in Hawaii and rose to world number 7.^[6] In March 2008, Choi reached fifth place in the rankings.

After his 7th PGA Tour victory at the 2008 Sony Open in Hawaii, Choi donated $320,000 of his earnings to the victims' families of a warehouse fire in Seoul, South Korea, which killed over forty people.

Choi won his fourth title on the Asian Tour in Malaysia in 2009 at the Iskandar Johor Open, which was reduced to 3 rounds due to inclement weather.

In May 2011, Choi won The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass in a playoff against David Toms. Choi had a one shot lead going down the 18th hole in regulation time, but Toms made birdie while Choi could only chip and putt for a par taking it to a sudden-death playoff. Both players found the green at the first extra hole, the 17th, and then missed with their attempted birdie efforts. Toms however also missed the return four footer for par leaving Choi with a three-foot par putt to seal victory. This to date is the South Korean's biggest PGA Tour victory.^[7] Following his win, Choi donated $200,000 to help victims of the tornados that ravaged the southeastern United States in April.^[8]

In February 2016, Choi finished runner-up at the Farmers Insurance Open to Brandt Snedeker, during a Monday finish to the weather disrupted event. This was notable because it was the first time in Choi's PGA Tour career that he did not convert a 54-hole lead or co-lead into a win. He was previously 5 for 5 in converted 54 holes leads to victories. The result moved Choi up 197 places in the world rankings from 334th to 137th. Choi continued his good early season from at the Northern Trust Open where he finished in a tie for fifth, despite holding the co-lead during the final round. This moved Choi to just outside the top 100 at 102nd in the rankings.

Team golf career

Choi represented South Korea in the WGC-World Cup in 2002, 2003, and 2005, and was a member of the International Team in the Presidents Cup in 2003, 2007, and 2011.

Personal life

Choi was born in Wando, South Korea. He currently resides in Southlake, Texas, near fellow South Korean PGA Tour player Yang Yong-eun.^[9] He is a devout Christian^[1] and member of the Korean United Methodist Church.^[10] He has donated much of his money to charity through the K.J. Choi Foundation.^[10]

Before picking up golf Choi was a competitive power lifter, being able to squat 350 pounds (159 kg) as a 95-pound (43 kg) 13-year-old, thus aptly nicknamed "Tank" by South Koreans.

Professional wins (22)

PGA Tour wins (8)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	5 May 2002	Compaq Classic of New Orleans	68-65-71-67=271	−17	4 strokes	Dudley Hart, Geoff Ogilvy
2	22 Sep 2002	Tampa Bay Classic	63-68-68-68=267	−17	7 strokes	Glen Day
3	2 Oct 2005	Chrysler Classic of Greensboro	64-69-67-66=266	−22	2 strokes	Shigeki Maruyama
4	29 Oct 2006	Chrysler Championship	68-66-70-67=271	−13	4 strokes	Paul Goydos, Brett Wetterich
5	3 Jun 2007	Memorial Tournament	69-70-67-65=271	−17	1 stroke	Ryan Moore
6	8 Jul 2007	AT&T National	66-67-70-68=271	−9	3 strokes	Steve Stricker
7	13 Jan 2008	Sony Open in Hawaii	64-65-66-71=266	−14	3 strokes	Rory Sabbatini
8	15 May 2011	The Players Championship	70-68-67-70=275	−13	Playoff	David Toms

PGA Tour playoff record (1–0)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent	Result
1	2011	The Players Championship	David Toms	Won with par on first extra hole

European Tour wins (1)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner-up
1	21 Sep 2003	Linde German Masters	63-68-64-67=262	−26	2 strokes	Miguel Ángel Jiménez

Results in major championships

K.J. hits a drive during a 2005 PGA Championship practice round at Baltusrol Golf Club.

Tournament	1998	1999
Masters Tournament	DNP	DNP
U.S. Open	DNP	DNP
The Open Championship	CUT	T49
PGA Championship	DNP	DNP

Tournament	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
Masters Tournament	DNP	DNP	DNP	T15	3	T33	CUT	T27	41	CUT
U.S. Open	DNP	CUT	T30	CUT	T31	T15	CUT	CUT	CUT	T47
The Open Championship	DNP	DNP	CUT	T22	T16	T41	CUT	T8	T16	CUT
PGA Championship	DNP	T29	CUT	T69	T6	T40	T7	T12	CUT	T24

Tournament	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016
Masters Tournament	T4	T8	CUT	T46	T34	DNP	DNP
U.S. Open	T47	CUT	T15	T32	DNP	DNP	DNP
The Open Championship	CUT	T44	T39	T44	CUT	DNP	DNP
PGA Championship	T39	T39	T54	T47	CUT	DNP	T22

DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
Yellow background for top-10

Summary

Tournament	3rd	Top-5	Top-10	Top-25	Events	Cuts made
Masters Tournament	1	2	3	4	12	9
U.S. Open	0	0	0	2	13	7
The Open Championship	0	0	1	4	15	9
PGA Championship	0	0	2	5	15	12
Totals	1	2	6	15	55	37

Most consecutive cuts made – 10 (2003 Open Championship – 2005 PGA)
Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (six times)

Results in World Golf Championship events

Tournament	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
Accenture Match Play Championship	DNP	R32	R64	R64	R64	R32	QF
Cadillac Championship	DNP	T6	T57	T43	T32	T19	T12
Bridgestone Invitational	T19	T53	T58	T51	T22	T11	T16

Tournament	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013
Accenture Match Play Championship	R64	DNP	R32	R64	R64
Cadillac Championship	T59	DNP	T39	T35	DNP
Bridgestone Invitational	T45	T46	T59	T8	DNP
HSBC Champions	DNP	T30	T16	DNP	DNP

DNP = Did not play
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = Tied
Yellow background for top-10.
Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.

Team appearances

Professional

World Cup (representing South Korea): 1997, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2013
Presidents Cup (International Team): 2003 (tie), 2007, 2011

References

1 2 3 4 "The Ultimate K.J. Choi Fan Site". 25 May 2011. Retrieved 16 June 2011.
↑ "69 Players Who Have Reached The Top-10 In World Ranking" (PDF). Official World Golf Ranking. Retrieved 8 November 2013.
↑ "Players who have reached the Top Ten in the Official World Golf Ranking since 1986". European Tour Official Guide 09 (38th ed.). PGA European Tour. 2009. p. 558.
↑ Choi gets company on PGA Tour as Korea emerges as world golf power
↑ Kim, Sang hun (22 September 2003). 최경주, "유럽대회 자주 출전하겠다". Yeonhap News (in Korean). Retrieved 30 April 2013.
↑ "K.J. Choi Wins Wire-to-Wire at the Sony Open in Hawaii and Climbs to World Number 7". Official World Golf Ranking. 14 January 2008. Retrieved 8 November 2013.
↑ "KJ Choi lands Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass". BBC Sport. 15 May 2011. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
↑ "K.J. Choi to give $200,000 to relief effort". ESPN. Associated Press. 18 May 2011. Retrieved 8 November 2013.
↑ Nichols, Bill (8 April 2010). "Since historic win, Korean golfer finds balance with family in Southlake, at Dallas driving range". Dallas Morning News. Retrieved 11 April 2010.
1 2 "K.J. Choi is a golf god who gives back – CNN Belief Blog". CNN.

External links

K. J. Choi at the PGA Tour official site
K. J. Choi at the Japan Golf Tour official site
K. J. Choi at the European Tour official site
K. J. Choi at the Official World Golf Ranking official site

Players Championship champions

1974 Jack Nicklaus 1975 Al Geiberger 1976 Jack Nicklaus 1977 Mark Hayes 1978 Jack Nicklaus 1979 Lanny Wadkins 1980 Lee Trevino 1981 Raymond Floyd† 1982 Jerry Pate 1983 Hal Sutton 1984 Fred Couples 1985 Calvin Peete 1986 John Mahaffey 1987 Sandy Lyle† 1988 Mark McCumber 1989 Tom Kite 1990 Jodie Mudd 1991 Steve Elkington 1992 Davis Love III 1993 Nick Price 1994 Greg Norman 1995 Lee Janzen 1996 Fred Couples 1997 Steve Elkington 1998 Justin Leonard 1999 David Duval 2000 Hal Sutton 2001 Tiger Woods 2002 Craig Perks 2003 Davis Love III 2004 Adam Scott 2005 Fred Funk 2006 Stephen Ames 2007 Phil Mickelson 2008 Sergio García† 2009 Henrik Stenson 2010 Tim Clark 2011 K. J. Choi† 2012 Matt Kuchar 2013 Tiger Woods 2014 Martin Kaymer 2015 Rickie Fowler† 2016 Jason Day

† indicates the event was won in a playoff

K. J. Choi in the Presidents Cup

International Presidents Cup team – 2003

Robert Allenby Stuart Appleby K. J. Choi Tim Clark Ernie Els Retief Goosen Stephen Leaney Peter Lonard Adam Scott Nick Price Vijay Singh Mike Weir Gary Player (non-playing captain)

Tied: 17 – 17

International Presidents Cup team – 2007

Stuart Appleby Ángel Cabrera K. J. Choi Ernie Els Retief Goosen Trevor Immelman Nick O'Hern Geoff Ogilvy Rory Sabbatini Adam Scott Vijay Singh Mike Weir Gary Player (non-playing captain)

Lost: 14.5 – 19.5

International Presidents Cup team – 2011

Robert Allenby Aaron Baddeley K. J. Choi Jason Day Ernie Els Retief Goosen Ryo Ishikawa Kim Kyung-tae Geoff Ogilvy Charl Schwartzel Adam Scott Yang Yong-eun Greg Norman (non-playing captain)

Lost: 15 – 19

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