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This is a Korean name; the family name is Choi.

Choi Kyung-Ju
K.J. hits a drive during a 2005 PGA Championship practice round at Baltusrol Golf Club
Personal information
Born	May 19, 1970 (1970-05-19) (age 39) Wando, South Korea
Height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Weight	185 lb (84 kg)
Nationality	South Korea
Residence	Dallas, Texas
Career
College	Gwangju University
Turned professional	1994
Current tour(s)	PGA Tour (joined 1992)
Former tour(s)	Asian Tour Japan Golf Tour
Professional wins	17
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour	7
European Tour	1
Japan Golf Tour	2
Asian Tour	4
Other	3
Best results in Major Championships
The Masters	3rd: 2004
U.S. Open	T15: 2005
Open Championship	T8: 2007
PGA Championship	T6: 2004

Choi Kyung-Ju (born May 19, 1970) is a South Korean professional golfer. He is known as K. J. Choi in many countries. Since turning pro in 1994, he has won a total of 17 professional golf tournaments, including seven on the PGA Tour.

Biography

Choi was born in Wando, South Korea. After establishing his career on the Asian Tour , where he picked up his first professional win at the 1996 Korean Open, and the Japan Golf Tour, where he won twice in 1999, Choi qualified for membership of the U.S. based PGA Tour by finishing tied 35th at the 1999 qualifying tournament. He was the first Korean to earn a PGA Tour card. In his rookie season in 2000 he finished 134th on the money list and had to requalify, but since 2001 he has been a consistent performer on the tour. In 2002 he became the first Korean to win on the PGA Tour at the Compaq Classic of New Orleans, and followed this up with another win at the Tampa Bay Classic in the same year. In 2003 he won the Linde German Masters on the European Tour.

Choi won Jack Nicklaus's Memorial Tournament in 2007. He mentioned on CBS during the AT&T National that he read Jack Nicklaus's "Golf My Way" book early in his golf career, which assisted him in becoming the golfer he is today.

Choi won the first AT&T National hosted by Tiger Woods at the Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland. The trophy is a small replica of the United States Capitol building in Washington, DC. He made a spectacular sand trap shot on the 17th hole for a birdie to clinch the win over Steve Stricker by 3 shots. Choi was a crowd favorite and threw his golf ball into the crowd after holing his sand shot on the 17th hole.

Choi represented South Korea in the WGC-World Cup in 2002, 2003 and 2005, and was a member of the International Team in the Presidents Cup in 2003 and 2007. In August 2007 he reached the top 10 of the Official World Golf Rankings for the first time. In January 2008, Choi won the Sony Open in Hawaii and rose to world number 7.^[1] In March 2008, Choi reached fifth place in the rankings. He has spent 40 weeks in the top-10 of the rankings.^[2][3]

Before picking up golf Choi was a competitive power lifter, being able to squat 350 pounds as a 95 pound 13 year-old teenager, thus aptly nicknamed "Tank" by South Koreans.

After his 7th PGA Tour victory at the 2008 Sony Open in Hawaii, Choi donated $320,000 of his earnings to the victims' families of a warehouse fire in Seoul, South Korea, which killed over forty people.

Choi won his fourth title on the Asian Tour in Malaysia in 2009 at the Iskandar Johor Open, which was reduced to 3 rounds due to inclement weather.

Professional wins (17)

PGA Tour wins (7)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	May 5, 2002	Compaq Classic of New Orleans	-17 (68-65-71-67=271)	4 strokes	Dudley Hart, Geoff Ogilvy
2	Sep 22, 2002	Tampa Bay Classic	-17 (63-68-68-68=267)	7 strokes	Glen Day
3	Oct 2, 2005	Chrysler Classic of Greensboro	-22 (64-69-67-66=266)	2 strokes	Shigeki Maruyama
4	Oct 29, 2006	Chrysler Championship	-13 (68-66-70-67=271)	4 strokes	Paul Goydos, Brett Wetterich
5	Jun 3, 2007	Memorial Tournament	-17 (69-70-67-65=271)	1 stroke	Ryan Moore
6	Jul 8, 2007	AT&T National	-9 (66-67-70-68=271)	3 strokes	Steve Stricker
7	Jan 13, 2008	Sony Open in Hawaii	-14 (64-65-66-71=266)	3 strokes	Rory Sabbatini

European Tour wins (1)

• 2003 Linde German Masters

Asian Tour wins (4)

• 1999 Kolon Korean Open
• 2003 SK Telecom Open
• 2005 SK Telecom Open
• 2009 Iskandar Johor Open

Japan Golf Tour wins (2)

• 1999 Kirin Open, Ube Kosan Open

Other wins (3)

• 1996 Korean Open
• 2008 LG Skins Game, SK Telecom Open (Korean Tour)

Results in major championships

DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10

Results in World Golf Championship events

DNP = Did not play
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = tied
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.

Team appearances

• World Cup (Representing South Korea): 2002, 2003, 2005
• Presidents Cup (International Team): 2003 (tie), 2007

See also

• Golfers with most PGA Tour wins

References

External links

• Profile on the PGA Tour's official site
• Profile on the Asian Tour's official site
• Results in ranking events for the last two years from the World Golf Ranking site

International Presidents Cup team – 2003 Robert Allenby • Stuart Appleby • K.J. Choi • Tim Clark • Ernie Els • Retief Goosen • Stephen Leaney • Peter Lonard • Adam Scott • Nick Price • Vijay Singh • Mike Weir • Gary Player (non-playing captain)

International Presidents Cup team – 2007 Stuart Appleby • Ángel Cabrera • K.J. Choi • Ernie Els • Retief Goosen • Trevor Immelman • Nick O'Hern • Geoff Ogilvy • Rory Sabbatini • Adam Scott • Vijay Singh • Mike Weir • Gary Player (non-playing captain)