PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. � Growing up on the small island of Wando, K.J. Choi had to travel three hours one way ? by boat and car ? to play the Gwangju Country Club on the main Korean peninsula.
By Mike Ehrmann, Getty Images
K.J. Choi of South Korea celebrates a birdie on the 17th hole that gave him a temporary lead in the final round of The Players Championship on Sunday at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. Choi won the tournament in a playoff, beating David Toms with a par on No. 17.
By Mike Ehrmann, Getty Images
K.J. Choi of South Korea celebrates a birdie on the 17th hole that gave him a temporary lead in the final round of The Players Championship on Sunday at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. Choi won the tournament in a playoff, beating David Toms with a par on No. 17.
On Sunday, Choi won the biggest tournament of his career on the famous island green at the 17th hole of the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass.
Choi finished off a two-putt from 41 feet with a 3-footer to win The Players Championship on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff against David Toms, who three-putted from 19 feet. Choi, who turns 41 on Thursday, won for the eighth time on the PGA Tour.
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"I watched this tournament in Korea and now it is a dream to be holding this trophy," said Choi, the fourth consecutive international player to win the Tour's signature event. "The key for me today ? because it was a long day ? was to maintain my body and rhythm and stay patient."
On a course where no one can get too cozy as danger lurks everywhere, Choi, a former weightlifter and known as the Tank, remained steadfast and made two bogeys in a final-round 70 to finish at 13-under-par 275 with Toms (70). He made a 5-footer for par on the 72nd hole to get into the playoff. Choi played 28 holes in all Sunday because the third round had to be completed in the morning after Saturday storms delayed play. Toms played 31. Paul Goydos, who lost a playoff to Sergio Garcia in the 2008 Players, closed with a 69 to finish third at 11 under. Luke Donald and Nick Watney shared fourth at 10 under.
Choi was followed the entire tournament by five men from Nashville who were wearing "Choi's Bois" T-shirts. With highlights of the event showing in South Korea all week, Choi expects more of those shirts to pop up in his homeland.
"This is the first time I've ever seen them, and for them to fly all the way over just because they like me as a player, it's really spectacular to see something like that," Choi said. "I felt that with support like that, every shot that I hit, I have to try my best. I didn't want to let them down."
Many of the other players, however, were feeling down on Sunday as Pete Dye's diabolical design featuring an assortment of water hazards, moguls, mounds, deep bunkers and tiered greens got the better of many of them.
Graeme McDowell, the reigning U.S. Open champion and 54-hole leader by one, met up wit two bushes and hit four balls into the water during his 31 holes on the final day and shot 79. Charley Hoffman arrived at the 17th hole three shots off the lead and put two balls in the water for a 7. Watney ended his third round on a miserable note with a double bogey and two bogeys in his last five holes, then started with three birdies in the final round to get back into the mix. But three bogeys in a six-hole stretch and missed opportunities on the back nine stifled his chances.
Choi and Toms didn't escape unscathed, either.
Choi missed three putts inside 6 feet in the final round, and Toms hit his second shot from 245 yards into the water on the 16th to give away his one-shot advantage at the time. He rebounded with a great birdie on the 18th, where his drive ended up in a sand-filled divot. Choking down on a 5-iron, Toms knocked his approach to 17 feet, then made the putt for birdie.
"I was very happy with the way I held up the last 31 holes I played today with the lead or around the lead the whole time," said Toms, 44, who hasn't won on the Tour since 2006. "It's tough when you haven't been there in a while and when you haven't played this golf course well.
"I just kept plugging along, plugging along and made a couple mistakes towards the end, but making that putt on 18 when I had to, that just shows that I can still do it when I need to.
"I got nervous a few times out there. I got ahead of myself on 16 in regulation. Seeing KJ had to lay up already I probably should have laid up and hit a wedge up there and made par at the worst. And three-putting in the playoff wasn't what I'd like to do. But I thought I made the first one."
Choi missed three putts inside 6 feet in the final round, and Toms hit his second shot from 245 yards into the water on the 16th to give away his one-shot advantage at the time. He rebounded with a great birdie on the 18th, where his drive ended up in a sand-filled divot. Choking down on a 5-iron, Toms knocked his approach to 17 feet and then made the putt for birdie.
"I was very happy with the way I held up the last 31 holes I played today with the lead or around the lead the whole time," said Toms, 44, who hasn't won on Tour since 2006. "It's tough when you haven't been there in a while and when you haven't played this golf course well."
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