Golf can involve plenty of swing mechanic thoughts, as Tiger Woods once highlighted by mentioning different parts of the swing without a stop for air in a Nike commercial. It’s the mental process Choi is battling through as she returns from an 11-month hiatus.
Her Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational teammate Jenny Shin, whom Choi has spent plenty of time practicing with in their home of Las Vegas, has been the perfect counterweight.
“She's like the Bryson DeChambeau of this LPGA Tour. I kid you not, she has every gadget, every idea. It's unbelievable. And I'm kind of like the Rickie Fowler, who just kind of whacks it. Sees the ball, sees the pin and just whacks it. So I think I'm not trying to make her life complicated, I'm just trying to simplify things. That was the main objective,” Shin said.
Shin throughout play reminded Choi to focus on her tempo, or hold her finish. It helped the nine-time LPGA winner re-center throughout the round.
“Sometimes I'm thinking too much about the technical things and sometimes mess my head, so I think that's why she tried to stick with some basic things that I can actually try in a tournament,” Choi explained.
Shin has been alongside Choi’s side step by step throughout her swing change, seeing some of the lessons Choi has taken. She’s distilled the lessons Choi’s learning to the key points where reminding Choi won’t adversely affect her during a round.
“So today she (Shin) kind of telling me like two or three things on the tee box and that really helped me and then like stick in my head and I can trust it and just swinging. So I hit a lot of good shots today,” Choi noted.
As Choi pores through every idea to rediscover her game, playing alongside her friend has been a great step.
“I was a bit more relaxed. Were you?” Shin asked Choi.
“Me too. I wasn’t nervous at all,” Choi agreed.
The relaxed environment has the team at T7 through the first round of foursomes at (-2).
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