What a year for K.J.!
November 8, 2001
K.J. Choi capped this season off in sweet fashion with tie for 6th spot at the Southern Farm Classic and 65th on the moneylist. Although he was not in contention of winning a tournament this year, he earned five Top 10 finishes.
With that in mind, it has certainly been a confidence-boosting year for K.J. He has far exceeded his expectations he made for himself at the beginning of this year, after just barely squeezing through Q-school. His original goal was to just finish in the Top 10 at least three times and finish in the Top 100, and most importantly, never to go back to Q-school again.
When asked about next year, K.J. replied, "After being on tour for two years now, I'm feeling very comfortable playing here in the U.S. Winning a tournament next year doesn't seem out of the question."
K.J. will be spending time in Jacksonville, Florida, this month preparing his game for next year.
Top 125: What does it mean?
The prize money just keeps getting bigger and bigger every year. If you had made $400,000 on tour this year, it would have still meant going back to Q-school to get your card back.
As the money purse for each tournament goes up, so does the cut line amount at the end of the season. Woody Austin's earnings of $406,352 barely edged out Bradley Hughes for the 125th spot by only $94. A putt is all it takes to make a difference in this cruel but exciting game.
Of the thirty-six graduates from the 2000 Q-school tournament, only eleven will keep their 2002 PGA tour cards. The rest will have to go back to this year's Q-school qualifiers. Cameron Beckman's recent win at the Southern Farm Classic catapulted him to the top to take honors.
|
Rank
|
Player |
$
Earnings as of 11/4/01
|
|
1
|
Cameron Beckman |
1,071,343
|
|
2
|
K.J. Choi |
800,326
|
|
3
|
Garrett Willis |
684,038
|
|
4
|
Mike Sposa |
576,312
|
|
5
|
Geoff Ogilvy |
525,338
|
|
6
|
Per-Ulrik Johansson |
510,488
|
|
7
|
Kaname Yokoo |
477,989
|
|
8
|
Frank Nobilo |
462,650
|
|
9
|
Craig Perks |
457,127
|
|
10
|
Craig Barlow |
414,139
|
|
11
|
Michael Muehr |
409,250
|
Reported by Michael Ohr
(K.J. Fan Central)