‘Hopeless’ Choo has no handicap on course
Posted by golfamateur on June 26, 2007
THERE are probably only two instances where the word ‘hopeless’ aptly describes golfer Choo Tze Huang.
First, Singapore’s top amateur is a hopeless ‘old-fashioned romantic’.
To woo a girl on Valentine’s Day, which coincides with his birthday, he would take her to a seaside restaurant, ‘pick a table with the best view, and with love songs playing in the background’.
Despite his romantic streak, Choo, 20, is still ‘single and available’.
The second instance where ‘hopeless’ applies is his grasp of Mandarin.
As a Braddell-Westlake Secondary schoolboy, he used to hide his Mandarin homework on top of his cupboard as he was ‘too lazy to do it’.
‘I can speak Mandarin. But if you ask me to read and write it, that’s my major handicap,’ he said.
Handicaps, though, do not apply to Choo in golf.
The 2005 South-east Asia Games bronze medallist is believed to be the first Singaporean to earn a full golf scholarship in the United States.
In September, he will leave for Seattle’s University of Washington (UW).
The UW scholarship is worth over US$30,000 (S$46,000) a year. It covers his tuition, training and competition expenses. He will foot his own living expenses.
He will compete in the inter-varsity National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championship, which counts Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson as former champions.
UW were ninth in the NCAA team event last year and third in 2005.
‘I’m looking forward to a new start, a new life, a new environment,’ he said. ‘It’s a dream come true.’
His fairy tale began at age six when he picked up golf after following his businessman father, Choo Kok Chung, 59, to the driving range.
In his junior debut in 1999, he won the Under-12 Sports Excel event in Kuala Lumpur.
After a slew of local and regional junior titles, the scratch golfer caught the eye of UW recruiters when he finished third in the 2004 Callaway Junior World Championships in San Diego.
He said: ‘When I was younger, I would write my goals on a piece of paper and review them every few months.
‘After I started working with my Thai coach Boonyarit Uasilapasart in 2001, my game improved dramatically.
‘I shocked myself, but it was a good thing. I became more confident.’
His proudest moment came when he won the 2005 Singapore Open Amateur Championship, ending the Republic’s 16-year barren spell in the annual event.
Last December, he cried after failing to clinch Singapore’s first Asian Games golf medal. He finished joint-third, but lost the bronze on countback.
The ‘worst moment’ was when he soiled his pants owing to a tummy ache during the final round of an event in 2000.
The sporting fraternity has nicknamed the 1.80-metre tall golfer, who weighs 108 kg, ‘Fatty Choo’.
‘It’s okay,’ he said. ‘ I’m a very jovial person. You can call me anything.’
His dream pairings?
‘Singapore Idol’s Jasmine Tai, and actresses Fiona Xie and Vicky Zhao,’ he quipped, before adding: ‘Tiger Woods and Ernie Els.’
His weakness is anger management, but he has no intention of revealing how many clubs he has broken.
‘These days, I just smile it off after a bad shot,’said the golfer, whose 283.4-yard driving average ranks him in the top 106 in the PGA Tour.
Singapore’s No 2 pro, Lam Chih Bing, says Choo’s strengths are his composure in big events and ability to string consistent good rounds.
National coach Kim Baldwin feels it is his work ethic and strong desire and ambition that set him apart.
The Australian recalled last year’s Putra Cup in Papua New Guinea, where Singapore had a shaky start.
Team officials had told the players to rest in their hotel rooms, but Choo stayed back to practise. Soon, his teammates joined him.
Singapore eventually took the team title and Choo the individual crown – the third Singaporean to do the double after Phua Thin Kiay (1967) and Mardan Mamat (1993).
‘His golf swing is not technically perfect. But, like Arnold Palmer, he’s learnt to play damn good golf with those limitations,’ added Baldwin.
Palmer’s unorthodox swing – a fundamentally flawed hack at the ball with a pronounced hip turn and awkward follow through – earned him 60 PGA Tour wins including seven Majors in six years.
Baldwin noted that Choo has ‘the best short game in Singapore’, but said the golfer could improve further within that 80m to 100m distance from the green.
He added: ‘There’s no facility in Singapore to practise his short game.
‘But when he goes to Washington, that wouldn’t be a problem.’
Asian Tour executive chairman and former pro Kyi Hla Han said: ‘He has a really good all-round game, but needs to refine it.
‘It’s good that he’s going to the US. When he’s done, his game will be ready and he can decide if he wants to turn pro.’
Source:
Paper: Straits Times, The (Singapore)
Date: June 26, 2007
