Kj Choi
South Korea
Choi Kyung-Ju (born May 19, 1970) is a South Korean professional golfer. He is known as K. J. Choi in many countries. Since turning pro in 1994, he has won a total of 17 professional golf tournaments, including seven on the PGA Tour.
Personal information
Born May 19, 1970 (1970-05-19) (age 41)
Wando, South Korea
Height 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Weight 185 lb (84 kg)
Nationality South Korea
Residence Southlake, Texas
Career
College Gwangju University
Turned professional 1994
Current tour(s) PGA Tour (joined 1992)
Former tour(s) Asian Tour
Japan Golf Tour
Professional wins 18
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour 8
European Tour 1
Japan Golf Tour 2
Asian Tour 4
Other 3
Best results in Major Championships
Masters Tournament 3rd: 2004
U.S. Open T15: 2005
The Open Championship T8: 2007
PGA Championship T6: 2004
Choi 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. In March 2008, Choi reached fifth place in the rankings. He has spent 40 weeks in the top-10 of the rankings.
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.
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.
Choi currently resides in Southlake, Texas, near fellow South Korean PGA Tour player Yang Yong-eun.
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. Following his win, Choi donated $200,000 to help victims of the tornados that ravaged the southeastern United States in April.
Player profile is based on the information provided by www.en.wikipedia.org