Star players from home and abroad said Tuesday they will carry high expectations into a tournament hosted by one of South Korea’s great golfers.

PGA Tour veteran Choi Kyung-ju will host his own tournament at home for a second year this week. The CJ Invitational hosted by K.J. Choi, his more famous moniker on the PGA Tour, will run from Thursday to Sunday at Haesley Nine Bridges in Yeoju, about 105 kilometers southeast of Seoul.

At a press conference in Seoul, Choi, the tournament’s defending champion, said he was looking forward to once again hosting and competing against younger players.

“It’s been exciting to set up this tournament for our second year here,” Choi said. “I am grateful for players who’ve traveled here to play.”

The 120-man field this year will include Ben Curtis of the U.S., the 2003 Open Championship winner, and South Korean Noh Seung-yul, who in 2010 became the youngest-ever money winner on the Asian Tour at age 19.

Curtis, who also won a PGA Tour event earlier this year, is playing in Korea for the first time.

“It’s a thrill to come to a place you’ve never been to before,” Curtis said. “I’ve heard a lot of good things about Korea from K.J. I am just really glad to be competing against guys you don’t normally get to. It’s a lot of fun to play in new places.”

The 35-year-old American was a surprise winner of the 2003 Open at Royal St. George’s, but has since struggled to live up to expectations. He won twice on the PGA Tour in 2006, but went winless for almost six years before capturing the Valero Texas Open in April this year.

Curtis said years that followed his lone major championship have given him valuable learning experience.

“I was very fortunate to play well and got the victory (at the Open), and it was a whirlwind of 12, 18 months after that,” he said. “It took me a few years to adjust to being a winner of the biggest event in the world. I have learned a lot after the (Open Championship) victory, after talking to different players who experience something similar to what I went through.”

Other native stars include Charlie Wi, a seven-time Asian Tour winner, and Bae Sang-moon, a PGA Tour rookie this year with three career Asian Tour titles. Anthony Kim, a Korean-American player with three PGA Tour wins, played in last year’s event and has received a sponsor’s invite for this year. (Yonhap News)