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Doing Asia proud Katayama, Choi lead Asian rise to top at PGA
Updated: Saturday August 18, 2001 10:31 AM DULUTH, Ga. (AP) -- The 83rd PGA Championship could be a historic one for Asia if Shingo Katayama can hold up. The Japanese PGA star is not the only Asian making a move after 36 holes at the Atlanta Athletic Club. Katayama shot a 6-under-par 64 Friday for a two-round total of 131, tying the 36-hole record for the PGA Championship, last reached by Ernie Els in 1995, and good enough to share the lead with David Toms. K.J. Choi of South Korea remained had a 68 over the 7,213-yard suburban Atlanta course and was three shots back at 134. If Katayama or Choi were to win, they would become the first Asian ever to take a major. Asian players have been making large strides lately, as more of them are earning their PGA Tour cards. But their presence has never been felt so much as this year. It started in January, when Toru Tanaguchi reached the semifinals of the Match Play Championship in Australia, then defeated Els in the consolation match. In April, Toshi Izawa tied for fourth at Augusta National, the best finish by a Japanese player in the history of the Masters. Last month, Shigeki Maruyama of Japan won the Greater Milwaukee Open in a playoff over Charles Howell III, becoming the first Japanese player to win on the U.S. mainland. One of Japan's earlier stars, Isao Aoki won the Hawaiian Open in 1983. "I think Japanese players are getting better and better," said Katayama. The 28-year-old Katayama, who has won nine Japanese PGA events, admitted he might feel some pressure during the weekend. He did not play well in the three other majors this year. He tied for 40th at the Masters and failed to make the cut in the U.S. Open and British Open. "Yes. I might lose confidence. I'll have a lot of pressure on me. But I have been playing in the last group in Japan so many times, so I should play well." he said. Choi shook off a poor start with three bogeys in his first four holes. "I didn't feel I was 100 percent at the beginning of the round," he said. "Then it was one bogey, another bogey, then three bogeys. I told myself, 'This is the worst it can get.' I got control of myself and said, 'No more bogeys. This is it.'" Choi, the first Korean to gain a PGA Tour card, has won more than $576,000 this season -- his second on tour -- with a tie for fourth at the Greater Greensboro Open his best. Choi, who said he began playing golf after watching the PGA Tour on television, settled down to shoot nothing but birdies and pars after the fourth hole. "I watched videos. I studied how they swing and I would rewind it, play it back again," he said. Phil Mickelson has started to notice the improved play among Asians. "I think the travel and cultural differences are difficult for them to make the transition when they come over," he said. "They're making more of an effort to play in the United States," Mickelson said. "When I used to play the Dunlop Phoenix [in Japan] eight or nine years ago, the purses were $1.5 or $2 million. We were playing for $1.3 million to $2.5 million, so there was no purpose to come over. "Now that the sponsorship and economy over there isn't as strong, and the purses are going down, they're coming over here." The first Asian player to come close in a major was Lu Liang Huan of Taiwan -- "Mr. Lu" -- who finished one stroke behind Lee Trevino at Royal Birkdale in the 1971 British Open. In 1985, T.C. Chen became known as "Two-Chip" for a double-hit that might have cost him the U.S. Open. He finished one stroke behind Andy North at Oakland Hills.
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