Choi Kyung-Ju

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Choi Kyung-Ju
K.J. hits a drive during a 2005 PGA Championship practice round at Baltusrol Golf Club.
Personal Information
Birth May 19, 1970 (1970-05-19) (age 38)
Wando, South Korea
Height 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Weight 185 lb (84 kg)
Nationality Flag of South Korea South Korea
Residence The Woodlands, Texas
College Gwangju University
Career
Turned Pro 1994
Current tour PGA Tour (joined 1992)
Professional wins 14 (PGA Tour: 7, European Tour: 1, Asian Tour: 4, Japan Golf Tour: 2)
Best Results in Major Championships
Masters 3rd: 2004
U.S. Open T15: 2005
British Open T8: 2007
PGA Championship T6: 2004
Choi Kyung-Ju
Hangul 최경주
Hanja 崔京周
Revised Romanization Choe Gyeong-ju
McCune-Reischauer Ch'oe Kyŏng-ju

Choi Kyung-Ju (born May 19, 1970) is a South Korean professional golfer, who is better known to golf fans in many countries as K.J. Choi. He is the most internationally successful Asian male golfer of all time, though he has not achieved the same level of success as several of his South Korean female compatriots such as LPGA hall of fame player Se Ri Pak and Grace Park have in women's golf.

He was born in Wando, South Korea. 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 this up with another win at the Tampa Bay Classic in the same year. In 2003 he won the Linde German Masters on the European Tour.

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 United States 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.

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 and 2007. In August 2007 he reached the top 10 of the Official World Golf Rankings for the first time. In January 2008, Choi won the Sony Open in Hawaii and rose to world number 7.[1] In March 2008, Choi reached fifth place in the rankings. He has spent over 20 weeks in the top-10 of the rankings.[2]

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

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.

Contents

[edit] Professional wins (14)

[edit] PGA Tour wins (7)

No. Date Tournament Winning Score Margin of Victory Runner(s) up
1. May 5, 2002 Compaq Classic of New Orleans -17 (68-65-71-67=271) 4 strokes Flag of the United States Dudley Hart, Flag of Australia Geoff Ogilvy
2. Sept. 22, 2002 Tampa Bay Classic -17 (63-68-68-68=267) 7 strokes Flag of the United States Glen Day
3. Oct. 2, 2005 Chrysler Classic of Greensboro -22 (64-69-67-66=266) 2 strokes Flag of Japan Shigeki Maruyama
4. Oct. 29, 2006 Chrysler Championship -13 (68-66-70-67=271) 4 strokes Flag of the United States Paul Goydos, Flag of the United States Brett Wetterich
5. Jun. 3, 2007 Memorial Tournament -17 (69-70-67-65=271) 1 stroke Flag of the United States Ryan Moore
6. Jul. 8, 2007 AT&T National -9 (66-67-70-68=271) 3 strokes Flag of the United States Steve Stricker
7. Jan. 13, 2008 Sony Open in Hawaii -14 (64-65-66-71=266) 3 strokes (wire-to-wire) Flag of South Africa Rory Sabbatini

[edit] European Tour wins (1)

[edit] Asian Tour wins (4)

[edit] Japan Golf Tour wins (2)

[edit] Results in major championships

Tournament 1998 1999
The Masters DNP DNP
U.S. Open CUT T30
The Open Championship DNP DNP
PGA Championship T29 DNP
Tournament 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
The Masters DNP DNP DNP T15 3 T33 CUT T27 41
U.S. Open DNP DNP DNP CUT T31 T15 CUT CUT
The Open Championship CUT T49 DNP T22 T16 T41 CUT T8
PGA Championship DNP DNP DNP T69 T6 T40 T7 T12

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

[edit] Team appearances

[edit] See also

[edit] References

[edit] External links