Choi Seung-bin Invited The CJ Cup, "It's an honor to be on the PGA stage."
Choi Seung-bin Invited The CJ Cup, "It's an honor to be on the PGA stage."
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His dream came true. This is the story of Choi Seung-bin, a promising male golfer in Korea. He will participate in the CJ Cup Byron Nelson (total prize money of 9.9 million U.S. dollars) held at TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, Texas on March 1. He is the only KPGA Tour player invited by his host company. "I had always dreamed of playing in the PGA Tour since I was young," Choi said in an interview with Asian Economy before the event. "I'm excited to compete on a bigger stage through the CJ Cup."
Choi Seung-bin is a native of Jeju Island who served as a standing member of the Korean national team. He first started playing golf when he was in the fifth grade. He was in the sixth grade of elementary school when he decided to play golf. He learned golf by watching YouTube videos with his father, who is an amateur player. When he was a junior, he won the Jeju Governor's Cup in 2019. He made his KPGA tour debut in 2022, and won the 66th KPGA Championship in 2023, drawing attention. He received a five-year seed by winning a major championship. "I didn't expect to win so soon," he said. "I'm comfortably on the tour thanks to the win."
Born in May 2001, Choi looks like an idol. He has a small face and a cute smile. He is 177 centimeters tall and weighs 72 kilograms. Although he is small in size, he boasts a great flying distance. He sends the ball over 300 yards on average. He chose the driver as his best club. In the average driving distance category, he ranked third in 2023 (31.224 yards) and second last year (309.465 yards). "I am confident that I can hit the ball very far." As for the secret to hitting long balls to weekend golfers, he said, "You have to practice hitting hard from the beginning. If you make a pretty swing, you can't increase the flying distance."
Choi's mentor is Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland), who is ranked second in the world. "I liked McIlroy since I first learned how to play golf. While watching the video, I followed along with McIlroy's swing," Choi said. McIlroy topped last week's major championship Masters. He has won all four major championships since the 2011 U.S. Open, the 2012 PGA Championship, and the 2014 D-Open. He became the sixth golfer to achieve the career Grand Slam in golf history. It is the first time in 15 years since Tiger Woods in 2000. He is now a living legend. "I saw him win the Masters and he was so cool," Choi said with a big smile.
Choi will concentrate on his KPGA tour this year. He will further enhance his capabilities and play overseas. He went to Vietnam for off-season training last winter. He focused only on golf for about 40 days. "I tried hard to make up for short games that I lacked and studied a lot about how to target courses," he said.
Choi's dream is to play on the PGA Tour. He is also imagining playing with McIlroy, his idol. For three years starting in 2022, Choi challenged himself to the PGA Tour Qualifying School. He passed the first preliminary round but failed to advance to the final round. After the end of this season, he plans to take the qualification test to enter the PGA Tour again. "I am learning golf while taking the challenge. Every time I take Q School, my dreams become clearer. I am trying to portray myself playing on the regular PGA Tour someday."
Choi Seung-bin will board a flight to the U.S. on the 28th to play in the CJ Cup after playing the opening DB Insurance Promy Open and the Woori Finance Championship on the 24th. "I heard that Scottie Scheffler (the U.S.), the world's No. 1 player, 메이저놀이터 will play at the CJ Cup. It is an opportunity to see the plays of world-class players in person," he said. "This will be a valuable experience in my golf life. I will do my best." Asked what kind of player he wants to become, he said, "I will constantly challenge myself."