K J Choi wins Skins Game with
a haul of $415,000

K.J. Choi headed the money-winners at the 26th Skins Game at Indian Wells, California. He finished up with a haul of $415,000 after holing a 12ft birdie putt, which was worth $270,000, at the final hole.
Stephen Ames missed a nine-footer that would have halved the hole and forced the foursome including Phil Mickelson and Rocco Mediate into a play-off.
Instead, Choi’s putt gave him $340,000 for Sunday’s nine holes and made him the fifth international player to win the title.
“I’m very proud to have won the Skins Game, the first time ever for a Korean player,” said Choi, who said he watched the Skins Game and the Masters while growing up in South Korea.
Stephen Ames, looking for a third consecutive title in the event, won $250,000 on the first hole of the day with a birdie to finish second. Mickelson was third with $195,000, while Mediate earned his $140,000 with a birdie on the 16th hole.
It is just the seventh time that all four players in the event have won money.