Fitting that Albin Choi 鈥� one of the best amateur golfers to come out of sa国际传媒 鈥� would be paired with a pair of amateurs as he teed it up in his first tournament as a professional.
The 20-year-old Toronto native wasn鈥檛 even aware of it when he stepped onto the first tee of the PGA Tour sa国际传媒鈥檚 sa国际传媒 Island Savings Open at Uplands Golf Club on Thursday.
鈥淚t was kind of funny, I thought,鈥� said Choi, who opted out of his senior year at North Carolina State and is well known for his collegiate play and his three seasons on the national amateur team.
鈥淣onetheless, we had fun and it was a great day,鈥� Choi said of playing with Kevin Carrigan of Victoria (who made 18 straight pars) and Kevin Ko of Coquitlam.
Choi 鈥� who 2011 Masters champion Charl Schwartzel called 鈥渉ands down, the best amateur I have every played with鈥� 鈥� turned in a tidy 2-under 68 for openers.
鈥淭o be honest, it felt like another tournament,鈥� Choi said. 鈥淧laying with two other amateurs, it felt like tournaments I was used to playing. It kind of hit me in the middle of the round that I was playing as a professional. I kind of forgot, I was so into it. It was fun and it was everything I thought it would be.鈥�
As for the Schwartzel compliment, Choi 鈥� who was low amateur while playing with Schwartzel at last year鈥檚 RBC Canadian Open and named sa国际传媒鈥檚 top male amateur golfer for 2012 鈥� was thankful for the praise.
鈥淗e鈥檚 a very classy guy, a great player and definitely somebody I look up to. Hopefully, I鈥檒l see him later down the road,鈥� said Choi.
WHERE THERE鈥橲 A WIL: Wil Collins, of Albuquerque, N.M., is one of two players competing in Victoria who will tee it up in next week鈥檚 U.S. Open at Merion Golf Club in Pennsylvania as he and MacKenzie Hughes, of Dundas, Ont., both qualified at sectionals earlier this week.
Collins won his event at Tumble Creek Club in Cle Elum, Wash., with a two-round, 2-under 138 鈥� one of just two players to break par.
鈥淢onday was a pretty special day, a long day with 36 holes of golf,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 played some great golf and it鈥檚 been a bit of a whirlwind since then, making travel accommodations and getting things set.鈥�
So much so that he struggled to a 75 at Uplands.
