Yeoju, Gyeonggi-do, Korea: Asian Tour honorary member K.J Choi of Korea believes the staging of his own tournament will reunite old friends and allow him to give back to the community when the CJ Invitational Hosted by KJ Choi tees off on Thursday.

Based in the United States since 1999, Choi described his homecoming as a very meaningful chapter in his well-documented life.

A graduate of the Asian Tour, Choi is a five-time winner on the region’s elite circuit and he also holds eight wins on the PGA Tour including last year’s Players Championship, often dubbed the unofficial fifth Major.

“It’s a very meaningful event as I’ve all of my close friends coming to play in my tournament and also participate in this build a nest program which is going to help many kids fulfil their dreams,” said Choi.

The Build a Nest campaign is part of a charity initiative under the KJ Choi Foundation where players volunteer to be ambassadors for the foundation and will donate KRW 100,000 for every birdie they record in the tournament.

“This tournament extends beyond the boundaries of just playing a tournament. It’s more of a community thing and giving back to society and my fans. When I play in the US, all the people from Korea would cheer me on TV even though it’s very late in the night there. Without my fan’s support, I wouldn’t be able to be where I’m today,” said Choi.

Staged at the impressive Haesley Nine Bridges Golf Club with a total prize fund of US$750,000 on offer, the CJ Invitational is jointly sanctioned by the Asian Tour and Korean Golf Tour where Choi joins the likes of Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Tiger Woods as players with their own tournaments.

Although he won his own event last year, the Korean superstar does not believe his title defence will be a walk in the park as the quality of players from the Asian Tour is getting better each year.

“The Asian Tour has come a long way and the field is getting stronger and stronger each year. It’s not going to be easy but I’ll try my best as always to defend my title this week,” said Choi.

Major champion Ben Curtis of the United States will make his first visit to the Land of the Morning Calm ready to take on Asia’s best.

Having competed with Choi on many occasions on the PGA Tour, Curtis, winner of the 2003 British Open, is relishing the challenge of taking on Choi and the Asian Tour field in Korea.

“Obviously K.J.’s going to have a huge fan support here. He does in the US as well but coming from Korea, he’s going to have a pretty big following and it’s going to be lots of fun with the fans rooting for him and I’ll be the underdog,” said Curtis.

The 35-year-old secured his fourth PGA Tour victory at the Valero Texas Open earlier this season and posted two other top-five finishes, including a tied second finish at The Players Championship.

The American is confident that he can contend for the CJ Invitational title and is looking forward to a good result.

“I had three weeks off and my body is feeling pretty good, well-rested which is key and I’m looking forward to a great week. The golf course is in good shape, the weather is beautiful and I don’t have any excuses if I don’t play well,” said Curtis.

Korea’s Charlie Wi, who shares a close friendship with Choi, is delighted that he finally has the chance to play in the CJ Invitational after turning down Choi’s invitation to play last year.

“K.J. actually asked me to come last year for the inaugural event but I could not make it as I was busy in the US then. But I told him that I’m going to be here for sure this year,” said Wi.

“K.J. is probably one of my closest friends on Tour together with Y.E. Yang. We go for dinner all the time and I play most of my practice rounds with K.J. We’ve been friends since 1997 and I’ve known him for about 15 years now,” added Wi.

A seven-time Asian Tour winner, Wi has enjoyed three top-five finishes on the PGA Tour and he narrowly missed a maiden title when he led into the final day at the AT&T National Pebble Beach Pro-am before having to settle for second place.

Like Choi, Wi has been living in the US for many years but still keeps in touch with the developments on the Asian Tour on a regular basis while ironing out the kinks in his game.

“I’m still a big fan of the Asian Tour and I’m always on the asiantour.com,” said Wi.

“I’ve been working really diligently at home the last few months but the results have not been really good but I still feel that my game is coming around and I know that hard work will pay off very soon,” added the 40-year-old.

There will be no fewer than 30 Asian Tour winners ready for the challenge at the CJ Invitational which features 55 players each from the Asian Tour and Korean Golf Tour plus 10 sponsor’s invitations, making it a 120-man field.

Other Asian Tour stars to look out for include India’s Gaganjeet Bhullar, Singapore’s Mardan Mamat and Thailand’s Thaworn Wiratchant who holds the record of having 14 Asian Tour wins.