Tank Misses Victory, but Is Poised for Bigger Win

“Charity Foundation Chairman, Choi Kyung-ju”.

Professional golfer, Choi Kyung-ju, 37, who is known for his donations to charity, is hoping that he will one day earn this title.

He is working to launch a foundation that is tentatively called the “Tank Foundation” and is planning to announce the official start of the foundation as early as November.

He will get a good boost if he does well at the FedEx Cup Playoff, a new tournament that was added to the PGA Tour this season. The prize money for the winner is 10 million dollars (approximately 9.4 billion won). He placed second in the Barclays, which is the first round of the playoff. He is now second in the FedEx Cup point rankings, and he was satisfied with this showing for now.

This was after the fourth round of the Barclays, which took place at the Westchester Country Club (par 71) in Harrison, New York on Monday.

Choi improved his ranking to just two shots behind Steve Stricker (40, U.S.) with a total score of 270 and 14 under par. His ranking rose from fifth to second and he earned 102,900 FedEx Cup points. He received 756,000 dollars and, for the first time in his PGA career, has won more than 4 million dollars in one season.

Having lost just two shots off his score until the eighth hole, he got birdies in the ninth, 10th, and 12th holes. He hit a 15-meter birdie putt in the 15th, but was beaten by Stricker’s three straight birdies on the 16th, 17th, and 18th holes.

Stricker, who lost his tour card in 2004 due to a poor record and had no wins in 146 games since the Match Play Championship in 2001, broke down in tears. Stricker is in the lead in the FedEx Cup Point rankings with 104,950 points.

kjs0123@donga.com