KJ Choi admits he heads into the Singapore Open with renewed confidence after his win in Malaysia last week.
Korean looking for a big performance in his last event of season
KJ Choi admits he heads into the Singapore Open with renewed confidence after his win in Malaysia last week.
The 39-year-old Korean is looking forward to the showpiece event at Sentosa Golf Club that has attracted a stellar line-up with the likes of Phil Mickelson, Padraig Harrington, Geoff Ogilvy and Ernie Els all competing.
For the first time this year the tournament will be co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour and the European Tour and Choi is hopeful of putting in another strong performance in what will be his last event of the 2009 season.
His success at last week's Iskandar Johor Open, his first for 18 months, has lifted him back up to 73 in the world, but more importantly has given him a timely shot in the arm in terms of belief.
"Obviously my confidence level is up after the win last week," explained the seven-time PGA Tour winner who missed the cut at Sentosa 12 months ago.
"I played in the pro-am today (Wednesday) and I feel my shots are there at the moment and I feel good. I also received a lot of support from the fans and I have a lot of expectations.
"This year it (the course) is really superb. It's in perfect condition for the tournament and that's why I have better expectations compared to the past few years.
"This course has tight fairways, so tee shots will be very important. Reading the greens will be very important as there are some double greens, like an 'S'."
Major breakthrough
Choi also went on to speak of his delight for compatriot YE Yang who became the first Asian major winner after his triumph at the USPGA Championship back in August.
Yang held off world number one Tiger Woods to prevail at Hazeltine and Choi - long billed as the Asian most likely to win the region's first Major - admits that performance has provided him with extra inspiration to try and claim a major victory of his own.
"I've been saying for the past five years that an Asian can win a Major and it became a reality," he added. "And now he (Yang) 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. It has given me a sense of confidence to strive for a Major win."
