K.J. Choi Secures His 3rd Top 5 Finish at GMO
July 15, 2001
With K.J. Choi and Shigeki Maruyama being the only Asians at the Greater Milwaukee
Open(GMO), both proved that they have the game to be serious contenders on
the PGA Tour.
Maruyama's playoff win against young-gun Charles Howell on the 6,739-yard, Par-71, Brown Deer Park Golf, made him the second Japanese player since Isao Aoki to ever win on the PGA Tour. He finished at 18-under par 266.
K.J. Choi, the first Korean on the Tour, has also been making a name for himself, finishing in a five-way tie for 5th place, his third Top 5 Finish this year. His scores for the tournament were 70-68-66-66, 14-under par 270. His finish earned him $105,090 to boost him up from 65th to 58th on the PGA Tour Money List.
After coming off a brilliant 3rd round performance on Saturday of 5-under par 66 including 2 birdies and an eagle on the last 4 holes, Choi calmly carried the momentum going into the last round on Sunday to shoot another solid 5-under par 66 round, only this time with no bogeys.
"I love this course", said K.J. "It's similar to course layouts in Korea and it suits my style of playing."
During the final round, Choi's game was on from tee to green, averaging close to 300-yard drives, with many of his tee shots splitting the narrow fairways and approach shots( 72.2% GIR) landing softly on the green. As shown below in his tournament stats, he made drastic improvements in driving accuracy and Greens in Regulation in Round 3 and 4, compared to the first two rounds.
But what impressed many spectators the most was his ability to scramble out of difficult bunker lies to save par or make crucial long putts for birdie. On the par-5, 557-yard, 18th hole in Round 4, K.J. hit his 2nd shot and bounced it up onto the backside fringe of the green, about 23 feet left of the pin. With a slight downhill putt, K.J. then rolled it down to about 2 feet from the cup to end up making his birdie and finish at 14-under.
Spectators were often overheard talking about K.J. and saying how well he plays. Others were yelling out encouraging messages expressing their support for this new guy named Choi.
| Stats | Rd 1 | Rd 2 | Rd 3 | Rd 4 | Total |
| Driving Accuracy | 46.2% | 46.2% | 84.6% | 76.9% | 63.5% |
| Driving Distance | 303.0 | 322.0 | 281.0 | 282.5 | 297.1 |
| Putts per round | 28 | 27 | 29 | 29 | 28.3 |
| Putts per GIR | 1.800 | 1.727 | 1.800 | 1.688 | 1.750 |
| Greens in Reg | 55.6% | 61.1% | 83.3% | 88.9% | 72.2% |
| Sand Saves | 100.0% | 100.0% | 50.0% | 0.00% | 66.7% |
Stats from PGATour.com
Reported by
Michael Ohr (K.J. Fan Central)
Special Note:
We, at K.J. Fan Central, were up in Milwaukee this weekend to follow K.J. around and we would sincerely like to thank the handful of K.J.'s loyal Korean fans residing in Milwaukee for their warm hospitality. Thank you for the delicious meals.
We will be sure to post your awesome group photo with K.J. as soon as you send it to us. It sure was an exciting weekend, wasn't it? See you soon.
Warm Regards,
K.J. Fan Central