K. J. Choi, flanked by four bodyguards, returned to his native South Korea to a hero’s welcome this week. Choi is the country’s premier sporting icon, a status that, in the world’s fourth-largest golf market, gives him a pulling power unmatched even by Tiger Woods. So it is hardly surprising that he has been chosen to spearhead the European Tour’s first event in South Korea.

The homecoming may have arrived at just the right time: Choi has climbed to his highest ranking of No 5 in the world. The career path of the former weightlifter, who taught himself to play golf at 16 using a Jack Nicklaus textbook, has mapped the coming of age of golf in his home country.

“I will never forget the first time I ever hit a golf ball,” he told The Times shortly after arriving for the tournament on Jeju Island, to the south of the Korean Peninsula. “It was electrifying — to the point that I knew that this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I always try to relive it for motivation.”

Golf has got under the skin of South Korea, too. The inaugural Ballantine’s Championship starts today, bringing with it stars such as Padraig Harrington, the Open champion, Chris DiMarco, a Masters runner-up, and Anthony Kim, the 22-year-old Korean-American prospect who also has a keen following here.

South Korea is believed to have a golfing population as large as four million, on a par with Britain, and Choi believes that the tournament will push the sport on to another level. “It’s going to set up a foundation to elevate Korean golf on to the world stage and open up lots of doorways, not only for young golfers but also for other pros in Korea who are striving to raise their game,” he said.

Some 25 professionals from the Korean Tour, alongside dozens from the Asian Tour, are gearing up for the most important four days of their careers, savouring the chance to compete at the highest level and hoping to emulate the feats of S. S. P. Chowrasia, the greenkeeper’s son who won the first European Tour event held in his native India last month.

Choi, 38, says that the landscape has changed beyond recognition since he joined the PGA Tour in the United States in 1999. “Back then, Korean golf was still in its infant stage, whereas now the game and the popularity of the sport has generally risen,” Choi said. “Lots of young players are raising standards.”As are the female players, with 45 Koreans on the LPGA tour after Se Ri Pak and Grace Park had been the first to make their mark.

The previous time Choi appeared in Korea, 10,000 turned up to watch him. When he arrived at the Pinx Golf Club this week, officials formed a line to be introduced to him as if he were a visiting dignitary. But he insists that playing at home does not bring extra pressure. “The main reason I came here was to be with my fans,” Choi said. “I want to show my fans how I have changed, how my game has developed. Because of the fact that I’m in the same location as the fans, I try to have fun. When you have fun, things settle in and you play well.”

Critics say that Choi’s failure to handle pressure has meant he is yet to win a major. At the Masters in 2005, he was leading going into the final nine holes when his game fell apart spectacularly. He finished third, behind DiMarco and Woods, the winner.

There were even suggestions that Choi was embarrassed, as a Korean golfer, to be leading the world’s best players. But he denies that his mentality was at fault. “I was so focused on my game at that point that I didn’t have time to think, ‘I’m a Korean in a big tournament,’ ” he said. “I felt like I was on a roll and that I was hitting my shots well. They were landing on the green but rolling off.”

With the shots in his locker now, he insists that such a scenario would not happen again and his rhythm would continue uninterrupted. Korean golf has come a long way since Nicklaus was a “cartoon figure” in Choi’s coaching manuals, but the tournament in Jeju Island may offer some clues as to how far it has to go.