Melbourne: Korean star K.J. Choi hopes a return to his \u2018second home\u2019 will spark a title run at the ISPS HANDA World Cup of Golf starting on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Along with upcoming countryman Bae Sang-moon, Choi, who is an Asian Tour honorary member, will tee up in the elite 60-man field at Royal Melbourne Golf Club having featured in the Presidents Cup here two years ago and also spending time in Down Under during the winter months as a fledgling professional golfer.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy coach is Australian, my trainer is Australian and in the past I have spent three years here in the winter months, so I feel at home here, second home here. That\u2019s why it feels good to be here,\u201d said Choi.<\/p>\n
Since cutting his professional teeth in Asia, Choi has become one of the most successful male Asian golfers in the world where he has accumulated eight PGA Tour titles, including The Players Championship.\n<\/p>\n
Choi\u2019s best finish in the World Cup was a third place in 2002 with Hur Suk-ho when the event was more focused as a team format. This year\u2019s edition, which is modeled after the 2016 Olympics qualification, will offer US$7 million for the individual category and US$1 million for nations with two golfers in the tournament.<\/p>\n
He also recalled the first time he successfully negotiated qualifying for the World Cup to feature at Kiawah Island in 1997, which he said provided the big push for him to play his way onto the PGA Tour.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe World Cup is the one that made my life change. At that time, I decided to set up my goal to become a professional golfer in the United States,\u201d said Choi.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the 1990s, professional golfers in Korea were not allowed to hit divots from the fairways and when we got to South Carolina, we were the only golfers in the practice round and we decided that we would just hit \u2018top\u2019 shots all day long and not take divots as the course conditions were so good and we did not want to hurt the grass. The next day, more teams showed up and they were hitting divots and only then we realised we could hit shots with divots!\u201d added Choi.<\/p>\n
The powerful Bae, who won three Asian Tour titles before establishing himself with a victory at the Byron Nelson Championship earlier this year, hopes to make a strong impression at only his second World Cup appearance.<\/p>\n
\u201cK.J. is a really good player so I am very excited. I had a practice round but this course is a bit tough, a little different than American courses. So I will try my best this week,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis World Cup is very important and meaningful. I\u2019m proud to be a part of the World Cup at Royal Melbourne, which is one of the best golf courses in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tickets to witness the ISPS HANDA World Cup are on sale now from www.ticketmaster.com.au.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Melbourne: Korean star K.J. Choi hopes a return to his \u2018second home\u2019 will spark a title run at the ISPS HANDA World Cup of Golf starting on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Along with upcoming countryman Bae Sang-moon, Choi, who is an Asian Tour honorary member, will tee up in the elite 60-man field at Royal Melbourne Golf Club having featured in the Presidents Cup here two years ago and also spending time in Down Under during the winter months as a fledgling professional golfer.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy coach is Australian, my trainer is Australian and in the past I have spent three years here in the winter months, so I feel at home here, second home here. That\u2019s why it feels good to be here,\u201d said Choi.<\/p>\n
Since cutting his professional teeth in Asia, Choi has become one of the most successful male Asian golfers in the world where he has accumulated eight PGA Tour titles, including The Players Championship.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17989","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-world-golf-news"],"yoast_head":"\n