By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter
After withdrawing from the Deutsche Bank Championship due to back pain, Choi Kyoung-ju finds himself desperate to rebound at this week’s BMW Championship.
An impressive finish at the Chicago-based tournament would put the 39-year-old South Korean in the small mix of contenders for the inaugural FedEx Cup that comes with a $10 million retirement bonus.
The BMW Championship is the third leg of the four-tournament playoff series for the FedEx Cup in which the winner will receive a bonus of $10 million that will be put into his tax-deferred retirement account.
Choi, known to his legion of fans as ``Tank,’’ has been making some noise during the playoffs with his second-place finish at The Barclays putting him fourth in the FedEX Cup standings with 102,900 points, behind Phil Mickelson (108,613), Steve Stricker (106,200) and Tiger Woods (103,733).
And with Mickelson opting out of the BMW, a win this week would push Choi atop the leaderboard and put him in prime position to clinch the FedEx Cup entering next week’s Tour Championship, the last of the four events.
However, Choi is not considered a sure bet to take the BMW crown, considering his fitness and past history at the Cog Hill course.
There are several reasons for speculation as to why Mickelson opted out of the BMW. One of the reasons might be Lefty’s poor track record at Cog Hill, as he’s never finished better than tied for 26th there in 10 career starts.
Choi has never finished better than 30th at the Chicago golf course in his PGA career.
If he could pick one of the four playoff events to skip _ giving his body a rest after playing six tournaments in nine months _ he definitely would choose the BMW, and now he can only hope that his early departure from Deutsche Bank will not prove as costly in the point totals.
Choi’s nagging back pain is also a concern. He injured his back in March while playing with his children, and the injury flared up during the first round at Deutsche Bank.
Choi said the few days off have helped him get back into shape for the two remaining FedEx Cup events. However, the risk of an injury remains, and he will need his top form to beat the world’s top golfers, including Woods, who is not likely to have putting trouble two weeks in a row after letting the Deutsche Bank title slip away to Mickelson.