Choi to host home tourney for 2nd year

YEOJU, Gyeonggi - Korean golfer Choi Kyoung-ju will host his own tournament at home for a second year next month, bringing together stars from domestic and foreign tours.

At a press conference held at Haesley Nine Bridge in Yeoju, about 105 kilometers (65 miles) south of Seoul, he said the CJ Invitational hosted by K.J. Choi, his more famous moniker on the PGA Tour, will go on from Oct. 4 to 7.

The inaugural tournament took place last year as the first event in Korea bearing the name of an active golfer.

The K.J. Choi Foundation and Asian Tour Media jointly created the event in May last year, and the Korean Golf Tour and the Asian Tour will co-sanction the $750,000 tournament. Choi himself is the defending champion.

According to Choi, the 120-man field this year will include Ben Curtis of the U.S., the 2003 Open Championship winner, and Korean Noh Seung-yul, who in 2010 became the youngest-ever money winner on the Asian Tour at age 19.

Other native stars include Charlie Wi, a seven-time Asian Tour winner, and Bae Sang-moon, a PGA Tour rookie this year with three career Asian Tour titles. Anthony Kim, a Korean-American player with three PGA Tour wins, played in last year’s event and has received a sponsor’s invite for this year.

Yonhap