North Carolina State University Athletics
Albin Choi Among Four Pack Golfers at Canadian Open
7/26/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
July 26, 2012
NC State All-American golfer Albin Choi will have plenty of time to prepare for his second career PGA TOUR event Thursday during the first round of the RBC Canadian Open held this year at Hamilton Golf & Country Club in his native province of Ontario.
The Toronto native has the final tee time of the afternoon on Thursday, scheduled for 2:10 p.m. ET.
The rising junior may never be more ready to compete on the PGA TOUR than right now. The two-time Wolfpack All-American has played splendid golf the last three months dating back to his win at the NCAA Regional in Ann Arbor, Mich., in late May.
Since that three-shot, 10-under 206 winning score, Choi has played at some of the finest and most recognized championship golf courses in the world.
First it was famed Riviera Country Club, host of the 1948 U.S. Open and the annual Northern Trust Open on the PGA TOUR, for the 2012 NCAA Championship. He finished T37.
Then in June he took his talents to Scotland to compete at the British Amateur. He played Royal Troon during one of the two-stroke play rounds, a course that has hosted eight Open Championships and features winners like Arnold Palmer and Tom Watson.
In early July he was back stateside for the North & South Am at Pinehurst and after 54 holes at the No. 8 course, Choi finished tied at the top of the leaderboard.
Match Play then took the competitors to the world famous No. 2 course, host of the upcoming 2014 U.S. Open. Choi won his first match, before falling to the eventual runner up in the round of 8.
The following week Choi led wire-to-wire to win the Ontario Amateur Championship, and then qualified for the 2012 U.S. Amateur by shooting 63-69 to blister the field in Lansing, Mich.
Choi will compete alongside American Richard H. Lee and fellow countryman Michael Gligic on Thursday and Friday.
He told GolfScene Magazine earlier this month that he is undoubtably looking forward to playing in his home countries championship for the second-straight season.
"It's always nice when you get to tee-it-up with the best players in the world," said Choi. "I play and practice for big moments such as this. I feel like I've put a lot of work in to my game over the past year, and the Open is the moment where I can really test my skills on such a high level. It's just seeing where my game can take me that is probably the most exciting part.
"Using last year as a benchmark, I know I can do more this time around. It's truly an honor to be invited to participate, and I'm just really looking forward to it."
Also in the field this week is 2009 NCAA champion Matt Hill. He leads the Canadian Tour's Order of Merit, which landed him a spot in the field.
Also representing NC State this weekend is a pair of South Africans in the likes of Tim Clark and Garth Mulroy. Both played in the Open Championship last week at Royal Lytham & St. Annes. Mulroy made the cut in his first Open, and was in the top-20 for most of the tournament before ending up tied for 64th.
NC State has had no shortage of representation in this tournament in recent years. Carl Pettersson won the 2010 event thanks to a tournament-record 60 on Saturday.
TV coverage is scheduled for Thursday and Friday from 3-6 p.m., on Golf Channel, with a replay at 8:30 p.m. ET. Weekend coverage on CBS will be from 3-6 p.m., on both Saturday and Sunday.
SiriusXM provides coverage of all four rounds from 12-6 p.m., on PGA TOUR radio.
