K.J. Choi could be best player without a Major championship |
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In 2004 K.J. Choi held the lead at the Masters after his first 27 holes before a string of birdies ultimately derailed his dream of winning golf’s most prestigious Major championship. In the end Phil Mickelson won his first Green Jacket, and shed the title of best golfer to have never won a major. Choi finished third, three shots behind Mickelson.
Now as the 2008 edition of the Masters approaches, Choi is making a case for the title of top player to have never claimed victory in a Major, along with the likes of Adam Scott, Sergio Garcia and Justin Rose. Choi has been one of the most consistent and successful players on Tour over the past few seasons. In 2007 he had the best season of his career, with two victories, at the Memorial Tournament and AT&T National hosted by Tiger Woods at Congressional. He also played his way onto the International Team for the Presidents Cup and finished fifth in the FedEx Cup standings. It has been quite a run for Choi, who didn’t pick up the game of golf until he was 16 and didn’t break par until after he turned 21. This year, we’ve witnessed more of the same from Choi who has earned the nickname “Tank” for his strength and days as a weightlifter. He has carded 3 top 10 finishes and 5 top 20s this season in 7 PGA TOUR starts. For his career, he is just shy of $18 million in career earnings on the PGA TOUR after 227 career starts in which he has made 167 cuts. In his last 58 events, Choi has managed to survive the cut 49 times. This year, Choi survived blustery final-round conditions at Waialae Country Club and a spirited charge by Rory Sabbatini, closing with a 1-over 71 for a three-shot victory at the Sony Open in Hawaii. The wire-to-wire win gave Choi victories in four consecutive years on Tour, putting him in the same category as Woods, Mickelson and Vijay Singh with active streaks of that length. Despite his great strides and considerable success, Choi remains focused on the task at hand, which is simply improving each day. “If you get too concerned about numbers, money, things like that, I think you’re not going to play as well,” Choi told the media before this week’s Shell Houston Open in Humble, Texas. “So what I try to do is stay focused on the work I need to do, the shots I need to improve on and the different parts of the game that I need to improve on. “If I’m able to focus on my daily routine and try to elevate my game and keep my body in the right condition, just live a very hard working life, I think everything else will take care of itself,” he added. Choi’s hard work has helped him to become a revered figure in his native South Korea, where he was raised by a simple rice farmer. He is now the No. 7 golfer in the world, just fractions of a point behind England’s Rose. Choi’s simple upbringing has helped him to never lose sight of his goals and kept him hungry to be the best. “I think my objective is trying to close that gap between (myself) and the players who are better than me,” Choi said. “I look at them, what they’re doing differently, what I need to do to close the gap and I think that’s what’s really important.” The next achievement he hopes to cross of his checklist is a major championship. He has come close, finishing third in the Masters, sixth and seventh in the PGA Championship, eighth in the British Open and 15th in the U.S. Open – all in the past four years. “Obviously if you’re a professional golfer, you want to win a major once in your career,” Choi said. “But I don’t like to say I have to win it this year. I don’t want to put pressure on myself. Someday I want to win it and I think I’m getting closer to it every year. It makes me know there’s hope at the end of the tunnel.” Choi will be one of 48 International players teeing it up at next week’s Masters, where he’ll look to claim that elusive first Major win. It’s also a chance to erase the bad memories of coming so close in 2004 before succumbing to the gravity of the moment. Choi is hoping he will be ready if opportunity should present itself this time around. “I think that’s what’s important, is that when I’m in the hunt, when there’s an opportunity for me to grab that chance, then I have to be prepared for it,” he said. “If I’m not prepared for it when the chance is right there and I don’t win, then that’s meaningless. If I’m well prepared and when the opportunity comes, then I want to be at a position where I can grab that chance.” |
