South Korea's K.J Choi shot to overnight stardom and inspired an outpouring of national pride after becoming the first Korean to win a US PGA tour title when claiming the Compaq Classic in New Orleans. Choi, who led the field over three rounds, finished with a total of 17-under-par after a final round 67 on Sunday.
A former powerlifter who took up the game of golf at the age of 16, Choi won for the first time in 74 US PGA tour starts finishing four shots ahead of Australian Geoff Ogivy and Dudley Hart. He had never placed better than fourth, but his first prize of $810,000 was more than this combined earnings in his first two years on tour.
"The most important thing was obviously to keep my card every year so that I could have a chance to win a tournament", said Choi. "Once I did that, I knew that I would gain enough confidence to win two, three times. It was a very strategically laid-out effort on my part, part of my 10-year-plan. And it just worked out very well this week, and it came sooner than expected", added the Korean.
The Korean had at least a share of the lead throughout the final round, holding off a chasing group that included Chris DiMarco, David Toms and Phil Mickelson, all whom began the week 11th or better in the world rankings. DiMarco lipped out a birdie putt at the 12th hole, bogeyed two of his last five and finished in a tie for fourth at 276. Toms bogeyed the 13th, double-bogeyed the 16th and ended up seven strokes back at 278 while Phil Mickelson used a hot start to close within two shots but played the final 12 holes even and tied Toms and four others for ninth.
Top 10 finishers
K.J. Choi -17
G Ogilvy -13
D Hart -13
J Cook -12
C DiMarco -12
M Sposa -12
D Forsman -12
N Price -11
S Verplank -10
T Clark -10
Filed by James Shortt
