In his native country he is known as “The Tank.”

What K.J. Choi did to his fellow competitors Sunday at Muirfield Village Golf Club was something of a blitzkrieg. Five back at the start of a soggy day, Choi fired a closing 7-under-par 65 and steamrolled the field to win his fifth PGA TOUR title at the Memorial Tournament presented by Morgan Stanley.

“I won’t be your translator, I can tell you that,” said tournament founder and host Jack Nicklaus after Choi saved par on four of the final five holes to preserve a one-stroke victory against Ryan Moore. “You won’t know how it will come out.”

With a record-tying final-round score first established by Jim Furyk in 2002, Choi completed 72 holes at perfectly manicured and effectively defenseless Muirfield Village in 17-under 271 and delivered in plain body language a message that could not be misunderstood.

Choi cemented his reputation as a steely competitor — tank-like, matching his broad build — and as a proficient scorer all in one timely round that meant more to him that he had cared to let on until the trophy was his.

“It’s very meaningful. It’s hard to describe in words how meaningful it is,” said Choi, 37, of South Korea, who has now posted a victory for the third consecutive season. “I just feel very honored and very happy to be living in the same age, same period of time as Jack is living, and to win his tournament is so meaningful to me. I can only think this was meant to be.”

He can say that because when he was a prep school student, his physical education teacher, seeing potential in young Kyoung-Ju, presented him with a golf instruction book, “Golf My Way,” translated into Korean. The author: Jack Nicklaus.

“It just basically showed you how to grip, how to do the backswing, the follow through, just a very basic fundamentals of golf,” Choi said through his interpretor, Michael Yim. “I followed that and that’s how I got into golf is by reading the book.

“(My teacher) kept emphasizing that this is a verrrrry famous golfer, so keep reading it. As I started reading it, I could understand why he was such a great golfer because all the things that were written really started to make sense.”

Lately, he’s been honing his game with instructor Steve Bann. Choi was second in fairways hit, and when he missed the greens, which wasn’t often, he was able to save par consistently. He led the field in scrambling from 10-30 yards and was third in that category overall.

Putting accounts for a large portion of his victory run, too, given that he had to make putts of 4, 7, 15 and 5 feet to save par coming home. Two of those followed tremendous bunker shots. Sandwiched between all that was a two-putt birdie from 33 feet at the 15th that proved to be the difference in holding off Moore, who closed with a 66, and third-place finishers Kenny Perry and Rod Pampling. Perry scorched Muirfield Village for a 63, while Pampling, the third-round leader, treaded water with 72.

“He’s been building up to this for weeks now,” said Choi’s caddie, Andy Prodger, who notched his 30th victory in a career that began in 1980 with compatriot Nick Faldo. “He was playing very comfortably. Even down the stretch he wasn’t really pushing things. He doesn’t change. He handles his nerves very well.”

That hasn’t always been the case, at least not consistently. Choi self-given nickname is “Mr. One Foot,” because he has a tendency under pressure to hit some shots just a bit short of his target. OK, that happened at 16, but the tank that rolled out to a 30 on the front nine Sunday found a way to close with aplomb.

Choi, who is one of the most famous people in his native Korea — even bigger than Nicklaus, who has been popular in that country for decades — has put himself firmly in the mix for a berth on the International Team in the Presidents Cup. Choi missed out two years ago, but would relish a chance to play against a U.S. team captained by the Golden Bear.

“It’s always an honor playing professional golf when a player gets to play in such big tournaments like the Presidents Cup, and I just look very forward to playing against Jack’s team again,” Choi said. “You know, I worked very hard to win this tournament, and I’m going to keep on grinding so that I do end up making the team.”

First, there are a few big tournaments to play in, including the U.S. Open at Oakmont, near Pittsburgh, in two weeks. On Sunday, Choi confidently employed a high fade that enabled him to find so many fairways. “Jack style,” Choi said himself, beaming.

“K.J.,” Jack said, advising the 32nd winner of his event, “this (indicating a fade shot with his hand) works very well at Oakmont.”

Choi smiled again, as if he knew he might have enough in his arsenal. A tank is a hard thing to stop, once it gets rolling.

Source - www.pgatour.com