Singapore: South Korea's KJ Choi has taken only encouragement from Yang Yong-eun's victory at this year's PGA Championship and harbours no jealousy that his compatriot became the first Asian man to win a major.
Long viewed as the region's best hope to win one of golf's four major tournaments, Choi came closest at the 2004 US Masters when he placed third. He finished two shots back in a tie for sixth at the PGA Championship that same year.
Asia's breakthrough win would indeed come from a South Korean, though not from the expected source -- 110th ranked Yang stunning the world of golf by overhauling Tiger Woods to win the PGA Championship in August.
Far from feeling overshadowed or envious that Yang had achieved the feat before him, Choi said his compatriot's victory had convinced him he could yet lift a major title.
"I was very happy that he won and I congratulated him. I've been saying for the past five years that an Asian can win a major and it became a reality," said Choi, who will play in his third USD 5 million Singapore Open this week.
"And now he has motivated me to attain my own dream of winning a major. Previously it was always asked: 'Can we do it?' but now we've shown that we can do it. It has given me a sense of confidence to strive for a major win."
The stocky Korean, nicknamed "Tank" from his days as a teenage powerlifter, has had a forgettable year and dropped to 73rd in the world rankings, but he returned to Asia with a bang by winning the weather-interrupted Johor Open last weekend.
"Obviously my confidence level is up after the win last week," the seven-times winner on the US PGA Tour added.
"I played the pro-am today and I feel my shots are there at the moment and I feel good. I also received a lot of support from fans and I have a lot of expectations this week."
Choi said he was not concerned about how far his ranking had dropped and instead was looking forward to some time away from the game before pushing hard for titles next year.
"Numbers don't really mean a lot to me at this point. I'm not thinking of that right now," the 39-year-old said.
"What's important is gaining my confidence back, which I did by winning last week. At this point, I'm trying to prepare myself for next season."
"This is my last tournament of the year and I will have a couple of months off. I'm going to work very hard for next year."
Bureau Report