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Jul 20
Despite the disappointment Choi has to feel after the way he finished in a tie for 16th in the Open Championship, he also has to believe his goal of becoming the first Asian to win a major title is not an impossible dream. The man they call "The Tank" was in a tie for third before hitting into the heather on the 72nd hole and taking a quadruple-bogey 8 on the final hole at Royal Birkdale. Only a day earlier, Choi seemed to have the tournament by the scruff of the neck when he held the lead with five solid pars to open the third round before the wheels came off in the wind and he lost five strokes in five holes en route to a 75. Things did not get much better when he made five consecutive bogeys on his front nine Sunday, but consecutive birdies on Nos. 16 and 17 playing ahead of the leaders put him back into the conversation before his final-hole pratfall. Still, it was Choi's best finish on the PGA Tour since he tied for 11th in the Shell Houston Open, two weeks before he captured the SK Telecom Open in South Korea. He posted a brilliant 67 in the second round at Royal Birkdale, bouncing back from a bogey on the first hole and seizing the lead for the first time in a major with birdies on the last two holes. Choi's downfall on the weekend came on the greens, as he took a total of 57 putts on the first two days and 66 on the last two, including 66 on Sunday. He's taking a week to regroup before the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. |
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