Wi concentrates on staying in the moment

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Charlie Wi is in position to make his first trip to East Lake for THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola.

LEMONT, Ill. -- If he forgets, all Charlie Wi has to do is look at his pin sheet.

That's where he's written the words "It's a marathon" and "Play one shot at a time." Those affirmations are something Wi can rely on whenever he gets nervous or tense.

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Wi has played in events like the BMW Championship that have no cut before, you see, and he's gotten ahead of himself. That impatience has worked against the 38-year-old and he is determined not to let it happen again this week at Cog Hill.

After all, Wi is on the cusp of realizing a dream. He has never played in THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola; never worked his way into the top 30 in the FedExCup with its major perks like invitations to the following year's Masters, U.S. Open and British Open.

Wi has his best chance ever this week. He started the third event of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup ranked 37th. A finish of ninth or better will likely be enough to punch his ticket to Atlanta for the finale in two weeks. And a win would boost him into the all-important top five who control their own destiny at East Lake.

"Of course, top 30 is our goal when we start the year," Wi said. "... It's a big tier for us to get to. I know I've been close the last few years, so I might have been more anxious the last couple years, but this year I'm pretty relaxed.

"I know that if it's going to happen, it's going to happen. But it's not going to happen if I keep being impatient and keep pressuring myself to do stupid things."

The South Korean has done a great job of remaining in the moment through the first two rounds of the BMW Championship, too. He survived a triple bogey at the 16th hole on Friday to shoot 69 that has given him a share of the lead with Matt Kuchar at 6 under.

"For me to play well, I knew that I had to stay present and just play one hole at a time," Wi said. "Actually I wrote that down on my pin sheet every day so I look at it if I were to get ahead of myself. Other than 16 today, I've been playing beautifully, and I've been playing very well leading up to this tournament.

"The weekend coming up, I'm really looking forward to it."

The 16th hole was something of an abberation, a blip in an otherwise solid two days. Wi had hit driver into the wind there on Thursday but felt like 3-wood would be enough with a slightly helping wind from the right. He overdrew it, though, and the ball flew into the hazard.

Wi took his drop and then hit a 9-iron short of the green. He chipped to 12 feet and then three-putted -- which he attributed to being "impatient and a little bit anxious." But he bounced back strong with a 13-footer for birdie at the next hole to get back to 6 under for the tournament.

That's where the words Wi wrote on the pin sheet came in handy.

"When I walked off the 16th green, I told myself 17 is a new challenge and see what we can do," he said. "I was really proud of myself to make a birdie there."

Wi was born in Seoul but moved to Los Angeles when he was 10 years old and began playing golf a year later when he followed his father to the driving range. He eventually earned a scholarship to UC-Berkley where he had the third-lowest stroke average as a senior -- behind Tiger Woods and Stewart Cink.

"Growing up I thought being a schoolteacher would be a good job because you get summers off," Wi said. "But I made first team all-American my senior year and that's when I thought I had a shot at (turning pro)."

The well-traveled Wi has won nine times around the world, including the 2006 Maybank Malaysian Open on the European Tour. That also happens to be his last victory, although Wi has made steady progress since getting his PGA TOUR card for the second time in 2007.

Wi is winding down his fourth straight $1 million season, and he has three top-10 finishes. His career-best on the PGA TOUR is second, accomplished once in each of the last three years. He credits the improvement to the confidence he's gained from working with Andy Plummer and Mike Bennett, the architects of the "stack and tilt" method of instruction.

"I think I've been working hard with my coaches, ... and I think that more importantly I believe in myself and I play my game," Wi said. "I just tell myself when I'm out there, just play Charlie Wi's game and nobody else. And I think that being comfortable and being out here for five years now, I think it really helps to understand myself and understand the pressure."

The pressure, of course, will rachet up this weekend as Wi stalks his first PGA TOUR victory and bids for a trip to the Playoffs finale at East Lake. He's played in the final group before, and his five years on TOUR give him an additional comfort zone.

"I don't think I'll be nervous," Wi said. "I know to just play my game and understand that my game is good enough."

Just like it says on his pin sheet.