K.J. Choi - Another Strong Start at the Northern Trust Open

After a wire-to-wire win five weeks ago at the Sony Open in Hawaii, K.J. Choi starts strong again at the Northern Trust Open, held at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, California.

Here is a little background on the 34 year old. Before winning his 7th tournament on the PGA Tour this January, he was the first Korean golfer ever to win on the PGA Tour. Before winning on the PGA Tour, he was the first Korean golfer to ever earn a PGA Tour Card.

Choi's unique golf swing, which looks powerful but mechanical, might be a result of the powerlifting days of his youth. One K.J. Choi fan site claims that he could squat 350 pounds by the time he was 13 years old.

His full name is Kyoung-Ju Choi.

Adam Scott Will Challenge Tiger Who?

Butch Harmon on Sky Television's Golf Night program:

He is the only one who can challenge Tiger Woods in the next four or five years. He's the only one I see of the young players with all the things it takes to get close to Tiger Woods.

Adam Scott is a very talented young player. There is no denying that. But, challenging Tiger??? Let's line up the stats.

Tiger Woods - PGA Tour Career:
Cuts Made: 94%
Major Wins: 13
Tour Wins: 62
Earnings: $77,515,376

Adam Scott - PGA Tour Career (in relation to Woods):
Cuts Made: 80% (-14%)
Major Wins: 0 (-13)
Tour Wins: 5 (-57)
Earnings: $16,390,401 (-$61,124,975)

If Harmon meant that Adam Scott could challenge Tiger Woods in a single tournament, then yes, I'm sure he's very capable of playing with Tiger on a day-to-day basis. But if he wants to challenge Tiger's legacy, well, he's got a long way to go.

I think he should talk to Ian Poulter first.

Vijay Singh - NOT the Second Best Player of His Generation

In response to A battle between Phil and Vijay for No. 2:

It is unfortunite that I must declare, here, now and forever, that Vijay Singh will never be considered, in my eyes, the second greatest player of his generation. I go a step further - he is not, in my opinion, the greatest non-American player to play on the PGA Tour.

If based purely on statistics, it would be hard to deny Singh's dominance as the premier international player of his time, if not all-time. But if we base these judgements on stats alone, then Barry Bonds is the greatest hitter in baseball history. If you don't know, I am referring to the incident in 1985, when Singh was accused of cheating on the Asian Tour, and was subsequently suspended from that tour.

Golf is a game that, above all else, demands the complete honesty and integrity of its players. Contrary to other sports, where often the general rule is "do what you can get away with," the rule of golf is "do what is right." If you can't follow this rule, then you are not worthy of mention in the history of the game.

I understand that, at the time, Vijay's success meant more to him as a paycheck than a moral victory. Life is not always easy for men and women that are struggling to make it out there on the professional tours, especially ones that aren't the PGA Tour, and even more so 20 years ago than today.

But the way I see it, it is a blessing to even have the opportunity to play golf for a paycheck. Let's face it - golf is a luxury entertainment business. There are still billions of people on this planet who can't put food on the table consistently. Playing golf doesn't help that fact. If you are worried about putting food on the table, then maybe you don't belong playing professional golf. There are countless other things that you could be doing to contribute tangible value to society.

If you want to try and make it big in golf, you are certainly welcome to try. But cheating your way to success is taking it too far. If you try your best and fail, then go back to the real world and do something productive. Get a job like the rest of us. Yes, if Vijay Singh would have quit back in 1985 and gotten himself a job in the real world, the world would have been "deprived" of what he's done since then. But think of all that you yourself have contributed to the world in the past 20 years. Would the world be a better place if Vijay Singh didn't play golf? It's certainly possible...