| Choi Kyung-Ju 최경주 |
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|---|---|
Choi hits a drive during a 2005 PGA Championship practice round at Baltusrol Golf Club |
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| Personal information | |
| Nickname | Tank, Hawkeye[1] |
| Born | 19 May 1970 Wando, South Korea |
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) |
| Weight | 185 lb (84 kg) |
| Nationality | South Korea |
| Residence | Southlake, Texas, U.S.[2] |
| Spouse | Hyunjung Kim[1] |
| Children | David, Amanda, and Daniel[1] |
| Career | |
| College | Gwangju University |
| Turned professional | 1994 |
| Current tour(s) | PGA Tour (joined 1992) |
| Former tour(s) | Asian Tour Japan Golf Tour |
| Professional wins | 19 |
| Number of wins by tour | |
| PGA Tour | 8 |
| European Tour | 1 |
| Japan Golf Tour | 2 |
| Asian Tour | 5 |
| Other | 3 |
| Best results in Major Championships |
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| Masters Tournament | 3rd: 2004 |
| U.S. Open | T15: 2005 |
| 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, born 19 May 1970), also 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 eighteen 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. He has spent 40 weeks in the top-10 of the world rankings.[3][4]
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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, his first and only win to date 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.
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.[5] 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.[6] Following his win, Choi donated $200,000 to help victims of the tornados that ravaged the southeastern United States in April.[7]
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.
Choi was born in Wando, South Korea. He currently resides in Southlake, Texas, near fellow South Korean PGA Tour player Yang Yong-eun.[2] He is a devout Christian[1] and member of the Korean United Methodist Church.[8] He has donated much of his money to charity through the K.J. Choi Foundation.[8]
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.
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory | Runner(s)-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 May 2002 | Compaq Classic of New Orleans | -17 (68-65-71-67=271) | 4 strokes | Dudley Hart, Geoff Ogilvy |
| 2 | 22 Sep 2002 | Tampa Bay Classic | -17 (63-68-68-68=267) | 7 strokes | Glen Day |
| 3 | 2 Oct 2005 | Chrysler Classic of Greensboro | -22 (64-69-67-66=266) | 2 strokes | Shigeki Maruyama |
| 4 | 29 Oct 2006 | Chrysler Championship | -13 (68-66-70-67=271) | 4 strokes | Paul Goydos, Brett Wetterich |
| 5 | 3 Jun 2007 | Memorial Tournament | -17 (69-70-67-65=271) | 1 stroke | Ryan Moore |
| 6 | 8 Jul 2007 | AT&T National | -9 (66-67-70-68=271) | 3 strokes | Steve Stricker |
| 7 | 13 Jan 2008 | Sony Open in Hawaii | -14 (64-65-66-71=266) | 3 strokes | Rory Sabbatini |
| 8 | 15 May 2011 | The Players Championship | -13 (70-68-67-70=275) | 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 |
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 21 Sep 2003 | Linde German Masters | -26 (63-68-64-67=262) | 2 strokes | Miguel Ángel Jiménez |
| Tournament | 1998 | 1999 |
|---|---|---|
| The Masters | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Masters | 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 |
|---|---|---|
| The Masters | T4 | T8 |
| U.S. Open | T47 | CUT |
| The Open Championship | CUT | T44 |
| PGA Championship | T39 | T39 |
DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
Yellow background for top-10
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accenture Match Play Championship | R64 | DNP | R32 |
| Cadillac Championship | T59 | DNP | T39 |
| Bridgestone Invitational | T45 | T46 | T59 |
| HSBC Champions | DNP | T30 | T16 |
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.
Professional
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