For the third day K J Choi stayed atop the leaderboard at the Sony Open, threatening to become the first wire to wire victor since Paul Azinger in 2000.
Choi had 11 friends from his South Korean hometown fly in overnight to watch him play, including two of of his early financial backers. "I felt a lot of support," Choi said. Choi’s closest pursuer is a New Zealand rookie playing in only his third PGA Tour event, Tim Wilkinson. Mr Wilkinson started his round with 7 birdies in the first 11 holes before leaving putts on 12,13,and 14 short right in the middle of the hole. He finished with a brilliant 62. Kevin Na started the day two shots back but couldn’t match Choi’s performance and finished with a 69 that left him at 10 under par and five shots behind Mr. Choi in a tie with Steven Marino.
Another shot back was Chad Campbell, who hit every fairway and green during his round. Mr. Campbell sized up the task facing the chasers "He’s going to be tough, he hits a lot of fairways, and that’s what you have to do out here."
It has been undoubtedly a great start to the year for K.J. Choi who has definitely established himself as the leading golfer from Asia. But that he had managed last year itself. After a strong finish to the year K.J. Choi must definitely have been hoping to aim higher and try and pose a threat to the dominance of the big three( Tiger, Vijay and Phil). He should make the most of this run of form and aim for some high finishes over the next few tournaments.
I have always felt it is always better to perform well in the first half of the year rather than the second half. This way you can ensure that the attention is on you and people are taking note of his performances. K.J. has already endeared himself to many golf fans in America with his mild manners and his attempt to improve his English. He is of course doing no harm to his cause with some really solid results. Definitely going to be one of the men to watch out for this year again on the PGA Tour. He has already picked up seven victories on the tour and looks set for many more. This man has come a long way from Wando in South Korea to establishing himself as one of the top golfers in the planet!