The Korean connection

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Si Woo Kim was a teenager living in South Korea when, in 2011, he watched K.J. Choi become the first Korean winner of THE PLAYERS Championship. “Since that moment, I really wanted to be a champion someday of THE PLAYERS,” Kim said. Now he is, thanks in part to the man whom he watched on television that day. Choi was a trailblazer for his countrymen, becoming the first Korean to earn PGA TOUR membership, and now he is a mentor for the growing contingent of players from his homeland who call the PGA TOUR home. It’s a role the 46-year-old takes seriously, as his lonely early years on TOUR taught him the importance of having a helping hand. Days before holding THE PLAYERS Championship’s Waterford crystal trophy, Kim received some indispensable advice from Choi about how to conquer the treacherous Pete Dye track that annually hosts the PGA TOUR’s flagship event. “While I was practicing with him, he taught me about the (THE PLAYERS Stadium Course),” Kim said. “When I was in position in the last round, he explained his experience of being in the lead, so that kind of advice helped me a lot.” Kim trailed by two shots at the start of the day, but his poise was impressive as he made nine consecutive pars on the back nine of a firm, fast Stadium Course to finish three shots ahead of Ian Poulter and Louis Oosthuizen. “He’s just so fearless out there,” said his caddie, Mark Carens. “Whenever he has a chance to win, that’s when he plays his best. He just loves it.” Kim’s maturity down the stretch shouldn’t be a surprise. He’s been ahead of the curve for several years. Kim earned his first PGA TOUR card at an age (17) when most are in high school. At 21, he’s the youngest player to win THE PLAYERS Championship. That’s an age when many people are still in college. Like many players his age, Kim was influenced by Tiger Woods and his international stardom, but Kim admits that Choi had the larger impact. “He’s been a great golfer representing Korea, and I always wanted to be like him,” Kim said. Kim also has emulated some of the game’s greatest players with his early success. He joins Tiger Woods, Sergio Garcia and Jordan Spieth as the only players to win two PGA TOUR titles before turning 22. Sunday’s win moved Kim to 21st in the FedExCup and seventh in the International Team’s Presidents Cup standings. He is seeking his second consecutive entry into the TOUR Championship and hopes to make his Presidents Cup debut this fall. The short game is one aspect of the game that Choi always emphasizes to his protégés, and Kim showed an impressive one down the stretch at the Stadium Course. He shot Sunday’s only bogey-free round, a 3-under 69, despite missing 10 greens. He saved par each time, including three par saves from the sand. He ranked third this week in Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green, the statistic that best measures short-game proficiency. “Every chip, he felt confident over. He was like, ‘OK, I got this,’” Carens said. “It was fun to watch.” Choi has enjoyed seeing the success of his younger countrymen. Kim’s win is the latest achievement for a growing group of successful Korean-born players on the PGA TOUR. That group includes TOUR winners Kevin Na, James Hahn, Danny Lee and Seung-yul Noh, as well as Byeong-Hun An, Sung Kang and Choi. “(KJ) always looks after the younger players,” Lee told PGATOUR.COM. “He told me that on the PGA TOUR, they always put the flag behind bunkers. As a professional golfer, you shouldn’t be afraid to hit it in the bunker. He makes us practice bunker shots for hours.” Choi didn’t have other Korean players to practice alongside when he first joined the PGA TOUR. When he graduated from the 1999 Q-School at age 29, Choi was the only Korean on TOUR. He spent two years introducing himself to every player who passed by, saying “My name is K.J. Choi and I am from South Korea.” “Looking back, if I’d had a mentor during my first few years on TOUR, I think I would have acted more confident,” Choi said. “I think I was very dispirited when practicing or playing because I didn’t have anyone to lean on.” Kim was still a teenager when he advanced out of the 2012 Q-School. He couldn’t accept PGA TOUR membership until he turned 18 on June 28, 2013. He made just eight starts, failing to make a single cut. He admits to struggling with the pressure of being a PGA TOUR player at that young age. Kim then spent two seasons on the Web.com Tour, graduating after a 10th-place finish on the money list in 2015, including a win at the Stonebrae Classic. “The Web.com Tour really helped me get more experience, and from that experience, I think that [helped] me to win this tournament,” he said. Kim earned his first PGA TOUR win at last year’s Wyndham Championship by five shots, including a second-round 60. Kim was the youngest player to win on TOUR last year, finishing 17th in the FedExCup. Now Kim ranks among the game’s elite after an impressive victory over golf’s strongest field at one of its toughest tests, the Stadium Course. It was a performance that undoubtedly impressed Choi. “I look at young Korean players these days … and they are all confident in how they act and play very well on the big stage,” Choi said. Few stages are larger than the Stadium Course. Kim conquered it with Choi’s help.

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