Choi Enters Top 10

This is the first time a Korean player has made it to the Masters’ Golf Tournament. Now the ‘Top Ten’ is just ahead.

Kyung-ju Choi (Superior, TailorMade) has proudly advanced in the Masters` Golf Tournament for his debut. He has set a new record in Korean golf history.

On April 13 (Korean time), the remaining second round and third round of the 67th Masters` Golf Tournament was held at the Augustus National Golf Club in Georgia (72 par).

In the remaining six holes of the second round, Choi performed excellently as he caught a birdie without a single bogie and scored 3 under par with 69 shots. He ranked a combined 10th (1 over par, 145 shots) in the game and surpassed the main cut line (5 over par, 149 shots).

This is first time for a Korean golfer to make it to the Masters` Tournament. Choi is the first person to succeed after attempts by Jang-sang Han (current Korea Golf Association Advisor) in 1977 at 1 shot short and Sung-yun Kim in 2000 at 3 shots short of the cut line.

Without time to celebrate his success, Choi went straight on to round three. He scored 1 birdie, 2 bogies and recorded even par (72 shots). His rank was a combined 11th (1 over par, 217 shots), one step down from round two. Jeff Megert leads with (5 under par, 211 shots) just 6 shots over Choi.

Choi however, is only two shots short of Tiger Woods, who ranked 5th (1under par, 215 shots) in round two. Woods scored 6 under par with 66 shots (no bogies, 6 birdies). If Choi does well in the final round, he might even hit the ‘Top Five’.

After the third round, Choi was quite confident. “We’ll have to see how it ends in the Master’s Tournament but if today’s (round 3) putting improves tomorrow (round 4), I can hope for a better score.”

Meanwhile, Megert is the sole leader after the first 54 holes. This is his first major tournament and he has won only one tournament out of nine played. The public is interested to see whether he can hold on to his lead against Woods and the other players.

Young-Sik Ahn ysahn@donga.com