K.J.Choi vows to rewrite history at this week’s US Open at Congressional Country Club
One of the many strong contenders for the coveted US Open trophy this week, is the 41-year-old Choi Kyung-Ju aka K.J Choi, who is eyeing first major victory of his career. Choi is just coming out of a successful closing at TPC Sawgrass at the Players Championship
where he took over David Toms to win his first high profile title on the Playoff hole.
One of the very few Asian Super stars who have been playing on the PGA Tour for a while, Choi has posted remarkable victories in his stellar career. He never thought of winning a major before but after a close finish at the 2009 PGA Championship, where his
countryman Y.E Yang took the better of him, he has been contemplating to win a major on the likes of Yang.
Choi finished tied for eighth in the Masters at Augusta in April and also had a strong finish last year when he settled for a joint fourth. He was an outright third in the 2004 installment of the Masters and comes with a vast experience of the Congressional’s
Blue Course, where he won the 2007 AT&T National.
“The course definitely plays different than when I won in 2007,” Choi said. “… You have to attack it differently. This week the tee boxes are, they’ve pulled it back 20, 30 yards on some of the holes, so you actually have to draw your shots back, where in
2007 I could fade my shots, so it’s a little bit different strategy.”
Choi, like many of the veteran players in the field, has expressed his concern of the changes that Blue course has undergone following USGA’s indications. The former Par-three, 18th was considered by the USGA officials as “anticlimactic” and saw
many of the players who needed to be precise with their drives on the tee, often slipped over to hit a wayward drive. The final hole was delivering much damage to the coveted title which has been known for the toughest greens on the PGA Tour.
After AT&T National was permanently scheduled on the Blue Course and with the US Open returning to Congressional in 2011, the USGA Officials unanimously voted to reverse the 18th hole on the course. Rees Jones, who had renovated the course earlier
in 1989 and again in 2006, stepped in to create a new Par-three which plays opposite to the old 18th. The new hole has been nominated as the 10th and the rest of the holes are moved one step forward, making the 17ththe new
18th.
“This course you can’t miss your tee shots,” Choi said. “It’s critical that you put it on the fairway. If you miss a tee shot, you’re going to have a hard time trying to get it on the green.”
Choi was born in Wando, South Korea and now lives in Woodlands, Texas. Being a devout Christian, he has been donating generously to various causes around the world and is also genuinely loved by the local crowd in Washington.
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