K.J.

Choi

The 51-year-old Hensby last played at the John Deere Classic, where he shot 70-77 and missed his fourth consecutive PGA Tour cut. He’s also made four starts on the PGA Tour Champions this season, notching two top 10s including a solo third at the recent U.S. Senior Open and a T-8 in May at the Senior PGA Championship. Most recently, he finished T-66 over the weekend at the Bridgestone Senior Players Championship. For the 52-year-old Choi, it will mark his second PGA Tour start this season after also missing the cut at the John Deere (72-69). He’s made 12 Champions starts this season, notching two top 10s – finishing solo second at the Hoag Classic in March and T-4 at the Senior PGA in May. Geoff Ogilvy also gets a spot this week at the Barracuda, after being given last open restricted exemption spot.

Also serving as captain’s assistants at the matches, set for Sept. 20-25, are Canada’s Mike Weir, Australia’s Geoff Ogilvy and Colombia’s Camilo Villegas. Choi previously served as an assistant to Nick Price when the Presidents Cup made its debut in Korea in 2015 and to Ernie Els at Royal Melbourne in 2019. The 51-year-old Choi is a three-time Presidents Cup competitor (2003, 2007, 2011) and owns a 6-8 overall record. “K.J. has become an integral member of the International Team over the years, helping to define who we are as a whole,” Immelman said in a statement. “He is a fountain of knowledge, a calming presence behind the scenes, and commands an incredible amount of respect as one of the most decorated Asian golfers in history.” Choi won eight PGA Tour titles, with notable wins coming at the 2007 Memorial Tournament and the 2011 Players Championship. He currently plays on the Champions tour, where he earned his first win last September at the PURE Insurance Championship.

The 50-year-old took advantage of preferred lie today with 10-of-14 fairways hit, tied for 10th best in the field today. From there, he landed 15 greens in regulation and turned that into a six-pack of birdies. His focus was to keep it on the fairway today and that simple strategy paid off. That recipe has yielded success for decades for Choi who arrives with three top 10s in 17 starts at the Farmers, despite sacrificing a lot of distance to the field. His most notable finishes at this event are a pair of runner-up finishes (2014, 2016). Choi ranks 255th on TOUR in driving distance (273 yards) so fairways will remain very important as he turns his attention toward the lengthy South Course layout for the remainder of the week.

Choi has yet to make a splash since the restart. He’s 1-for-6 with the lone payday being a solo 61st at the 3M Open. He still has a Top 50 in Career Earnings exemption but this week he received a sponsor’s invite to secure his spot. The 50-year-old has started to showcase his talents on the PGA TOUR Champions circuit, posting top 30s in all six of his starts on the senior tour, including a pair of top 10s. Back on the big stage, he’s lost strokes off-the-tee in 12 straight measured events. Sea Island Resort is one of the rare venues on TOUR where his lack of distance doesn’t eliminate him out of the gate. Still, he’s a long shot to contend. His track record at the RSM shows two missed cuts in four tries with a T52 (2016) and T37 (2018).

Choi is playing this week (and season) on a Career Money Exemption. So far he is 1-for-4 this season but missed the cut in all three events that had a 36-hole cut. It certainly looks like he’ll reverse that trend this week after piping 13-of-14 fairways today to set up a relative stress-free round. His ball-striking was nothing to write home about but he cleaned up nicely with 3.7 strokes gained putting. That included a 59'8" birdie bomb early in his round at the par-4 14th. This is Choi’s 14th appearance at the WM Phoenix Open and he’s searching for his fifth top 25 with the latest being a T17 back in 2016.

This was the 48-year-old’s ninth Heritage, second top 25 and first top 10, bettering a T18 in 2013. He improves to 2-for-5 on the season, arriving off a T69 (tied last) at the Valero two weeks ago. The South Korean hangs on for his 68th top 10 in 460 events, first since T5 at the 2018 Corales last March. For the week, he carded rounds of 70-66-69-72 and totaled 15 birdies versus eight bogeys. On 11 (of 14) fairways and 10 greens in regulation, Choi outbalanced four birdies with five bogeys, losing 2.363 strokes on-the-green.

After opening with 70-66-69, the 48-year-old finds himself in the top 10 after 54 holes for the first time since T9 at the 2016 Arnold Palmer Invitational over three years ago, where he eventually finished T36 (68-70-70-75). On 11 (of 14) fairways and nine greens in regulation, he gained 2.254 strokes approaching and 2.983 tee-to-green. The Texas resident squared two bogey-5s at 10 and 11, offset by four birdies at 2, 13 (hole-out from 17'2" away), 16 and 17. He registered 1.667 putts per GIR and -0.933 SG: Putting with 25 total putts. The South Korean’s most recent (of eight) TOUR titles is the 2011 PLAYERS, where he came from one back with 2-under 70 and won in extra time over David Toms.

Playing on a Major Medical Extension, starts have been rare for Choi who is just 1-for-4 this season. He’s lost strokes tee-to-green in all four of those starts but he flipped the script in round two. Choi landed 11 greens in regulation which was good for +2.063 strokes gained on approach. He currently ranks 43rd in that department for the week. The putter was still the primary weapon, though, as he converted five times from 7'11" or longer. Playing his 28th career round at Harbour Town, this will go in the books as his second-lowest lap recorded at the Pete Dye design (R1 64 in 2010). Given his lack of form it’s hard to see him maintaining this position for two more days but Harbour Town Golf Links is the type of course that does cater to his short-game skills.

KJ was #1 in putting on Greens hit in Regulation. He has two Top 10’s in his last three events and is now just under $2 Million for the 2004 season.