South Korean K.J. Choi, who has soared back into the world’s top 40 this year after sharing fourth place at the Masters with Tiger Woods, has a simple US Open game plan.
“I’m going to try to get through four rounds, and finish each day at par,” Choi said after completing a practice round at Pebble Beach Golf Links, where the year’s second major starts today. “If I do that, that should be a pretty good score.”
Choi, 40, has played nine US Opens and made the cut in four, posting his best finish with a tie for 15th in 2005.
The picturesque Pebble Beach layout offers plenty of difficulty, especially when the winds at the Pacific shore pick up.
In its US Open guise, with firm fairways and greens and punishing rough, the course that hugs the coast promises what could prove to be a brutal test.
Among those taking it on are 11 Asian Tour regulars, including South Korea’s Yang Yong-eun — who became Asia’s first major champion with his victory in the PGA Championship last year — and current Asian No. 1 Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand.
Korean teenage phenom Noh Seung-yul, currently second on the Asian Tour’s Order of Merit, India’s Arjun Atwal, Japanese duo Azuma Yano and Hiroyuki Fujita are also here.
Noh, 19, will make his major championship debut after earning his place through sectional qualifying.
The talented teen is already a two-time winner on the Asian Tour and has been rated highly by Choi, who lost to the youngster by one stroke in the Maybank Malaysian Open in March.
Thongchai, the first man to win three Asian Order of Merit crowns, will be hoping to make a major mark after injury forced him out of the Masters.
The former paratrooper was the first Thai to qualify for and play in all four rounds of the US Open in 2001. He is aiming to improve on his personal best at a major after finishing 13th at the British Open in July last year.
Atwal arrives at Pebble Beach on a run of good form with three straight top-20 finishes. One of those included a tie for seventh at the US PGA Tour’s Byron Nelson Championship.
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