KJ Choi takes a strong start at the John Deere Classic
South Korean KJ Choi shared the third spot in Thursday’s opening round of the John Deere Classic, after carding a bogey-free six-under par 65.
Choi, the eight-time winner on the PGA Tour, birdied three holes on each nine of the TPC Deere Run to settle four strokes behind the leader Troy Matteson.
He started by making a birdie on his first hole (No. 10) and finished with birdies on three of his first five of the front nine.
While talking to the PGA Tour website, he told that he remained patient throughout the day and was brilliant with his putter. That was the main reason for his error-free performance in Illinois.
“You know, it's bogey-free on the tournament in the 18 hole. Keep patient every hole,” he said. “This week in birdie, good patient and good crowd. I love the people here. Course is fantastic shape in the morning. More saving and greenside hit the putt. It's
a very good read”.
In addition to his putting, he was great with the irons that helped him avoid bogeys in the round.
“Couple irons trying and hit the green and then hit the ground is a little different feel,” the winner of last year’s Players Championship said. “This is many change and I hit the ball so great. Today iron is great”.
According to him, his new caddie, Graham, who is caddying him for the first time, helped him to a great extend in reading the course on the opening day.
He is now hoping to add another good round on Friday to land in a strong position while entering the final two rounds of the tournament.
For the last few months, he has not been enjoying the best of his forms. He only managed to record one top-10 finish in 15 starts that he has made during the 2012 PGA Tour season so far.
Therefore, he now has a great chance of improving his track record in the season while ending the fourteen-month winning drought on the PGA Tour.
Robert Garrigus, Scott Piercy, Brian Harman, Steve Stricker, Luke Guthrie and Gary Christian were the other players to join Choi on the third place on the leaderboard with the same score.
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