Kyung-Ju Choi
- Sport: golf
- Nationality: South Korea
- Birth date: 1970-05-19 (38 years)
- Place of birth: Wando, South Korea
A former competitive power lifter, Choi Kyung-Ju, ranked T96 in scoring average on the 2008 PGA Tour. But he garnered his best finished at the Hawaii Sony Open on the 2008 PGA Tour ranking first.
This 38-year old is known to fans worldwide as K.J. Choi and is one of the most successful Asian athletes to break into the golf scene. He started his career at the Asian Tour earning the Korean Open Title in 1996, his first win in his professional career. He won the Japan Golf Tour twice in 1999. He qualified for membership to the PGA Tour in 1999 by finishing in the 35th place.
His scoring average in the 1999 US Open was T30 and played in 2004 (averaging T31) and in 2005 (averaging T15). He played in the Open Championship in 2001 (averaging at T49), in 2003 (averaging T22), in 2004 (averaging T16), in 2005 (averaging T41) and in 2007 (averaging T8). Choi played only twice before 2008 in the Masters Tournament, in 2004 (ranking 3rd) and in 2005 (averaging at T33). He has since played in the PGA Championship since 2003, gaining third overall rankings in 2005 and 2008 and fourth in 2006).
His best finishes this year includes the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championships (averaging T5), the Northern Trust Open (averaging T7), the Shell Houston Open (averaging T11) and the World Golf Championships (averaging at T12). K.J. Choi earned a career high $4.6 in 2007 as well as a 5th world standing. Currently, he is 12th in the world.
He got interested in the sport as a high school student and studied Jack Nicklaus books to get himself acquainted with the sport. Studying under Phil Ritson, he became the first Korean to get a PGA Tour card. A humanist, he has donated part of his PGA Sony Open winnings to fire victims in Seoul, South Korea as well as $90,000 to the Presbyterian Church in Greensboro, North Carolina.
This 38-year old is known to fans worldwide as K.J. Choi and is one of the most successful Asian athletes to break into the golf scene. He started his career at the Asian Tour earning the Korean Open Title in 1996, his first win in his professional career. He won the Japan Golf Tour twice in 1999. He qualified for membership to the PGA Tour in 1999 by finishing in the 35th place.
His scoring average in the 1999 US Open was T30 and played in 2004 (averaging T31) and in 2005 (averaging T15). He played in the Open Championship in 2001 (averaging at T49), in 2003 (averaging T22), in 2004 (averaging T16), in 2005 (averaging T41) and in 2007 (averaging T8). Choi played only twice before 2008 in the Masters Tournament, in 2004 (ranking 3rd) and in 2005 (averaging at T33). He has since played in the PGA Championship since 2003, gaining third overall rankings in 2005 and 2008 and fourth in 2006).
His best finishes this year includes the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championships (averaging T5), the Northern Trust Open (averaging T7), the Shell Houston Open (averaging T11) and the World Golf Championships (averaging at T12). K.J. Choi earned a career high $4.6 in 2007 as well as a 5th world standing. Currently, he is 12th in the world.
He got interested in the sport as a high school student and studied Jack Nicklaus books to get himself acquainted with the sport. Studying under Phil Ritson, he became the first Korean to get a PGA Tour card. A humanist, he has donated part of his PGA Sony Open winnings to fire victims in Seoul, South Korea as well as $90,000 to the Presbyterian Church in Greensboro, North Carolina.
©