GREENSBORO, N.C. -- K.J. Choi had the look of a champion from the start.

"You can tell when someone is in the zone by his eyes," said Choi's caddie, Andy Prodger. "And you could see it in his eyes."

That determination - and four consecutive birdies to open the final round - helped the South Korean star win the Chrysler Classic of Greensboro on Sunday. He cruised to a two-shot victory over Shigeki Maruyama to snap a three-year winless streak.

"I really focused on my game," Choi said through an interpreter. "In Korea, in all the times, ever since the last one, anytime I'm in the last group, I won it except once."

It was Choi's first PGA TOUR victory since 2002, when he won two tournaments during a breakthrough season. He finished with a 6-under 66 for a 22-under 266 total, one stroke short of Jesper Parnevik's tournament record from 1999.

Maruyama shot a 67. First-round leader Charles Warren, who tied the Forest Oaks Country Club record of 62 before faltering a bit over the past two days, rebounded with a 65 to tie Brandt Jobe (67) and Jason Bohn (70) for third.

Sergio Garcia had a 71 to tie for 13th at 13 under. U.S. Ryder Cup captain Tom Lehman and Adam Scott shot 74s to finish in a group at 3 under.

"K.J. got off to the kind of start that everybody wanted," said Bohn, who locked up a spot in next week's $7.5 million World Golf Championships-American Express Championship. "After that, I was just firing at a lot of pins coming in, and that led to some bogeys. But I was trying to win."

Choi snapped his winless streak near the end of what has been a very successful season for his country. Birdie Kim won the U.S. Women's Open in June, and Jeong Jang followed that up by winning the Women's British Open a month later.

And South Koreans Jimin Kang, Meena Lee and Soo-Yun Kang have LPGA Tour victories in 2005, too. Choi finally joined them.

"My job here is to open the gateway, I guess, for more competition to come in (on the PGA TOUR)," Choi said. "My standards are what's been set for these new guys to come in."

He began the day tied for the top spot with D.J. Trahan, and three others were within two shots at the top of a jumbled leaderboard. Choi quickly took care of the logjam, knocking in a 17-footer for birdie on the first hole to move in front for good.

"He hit two very good shots on the first hole, and then holed a nice putt, which is always a nice way to start," Prodger said.

Three more birdies moved him to 20 under, four shots clear of Maruyama, and there was very little drama left. About the only trouble for Choi came after a three-putt for bogey at No. 10 closed the gap to two, then he promptly left his tee shot on the par-3 12th short in a bunker.

But Choi's blast landed about 10 feet short of the hole and rolled straight in for a birdie, and he held on from there.

K.J. Choi totaled eight birdies during the final round on the way to victory. (Cohen/ WireImage)

"He got angry very quickly out there," Prodger said. "When he's playing well, he gets angry very, very fast."

Maruyama made it a bit interesting by holing out himself from the bunker on No. 18, even though it came a little too late.

"I could hear K.J. making birdies at the beginning, and I couldn't make putts the first few holes," Maruyama said through an interpreter. "I'm really satisfied with my golf today. This brought me a lot of confidence for the rest of the year."

The $900,000 prize moved Choi up to 33rd on the money list, about $30,000 short of the top 30 and a spot in the season-ending TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola. He started the week 87th after missing three cuts in a row, and putting woes were partly to blame.

A tip from a friend before the start of the tournament helped Choi find a repetitive stroke that is not quite as wristy, and he used it well enough to finish the week with 26 birdies.

"As far as my putting, literally 10 minutes before I went out for my first round, this feel came back to me like in 2002," Choi said. "That same feeling came back to me. I was able to carry that throughout the tournament."

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