HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. » K.J. Choi kept up his stellar golf, even without Tiger Woods in his group.

Choi played with the world's No. 1 golfer all four rounds of last week's Masters, but showed no signs of a hangover yesterday, when he shot a 7-under 64 to take a two-stroke lead at the Verizon Heritage.

Mike Weir and Greg Owen were next at 66, then came a large group at 67 that included Jim Furyk, Sergio Garcia and five-time Verizon winner Davis Love III.

Choi tied Woods for fourth at Augusta National, finishing five shots behind champion Phil Mickelson.

Most of golf's best, including Mickelson and Woods, are resting after last week's major.

Not Choi, who wasn't ready to end a roll that includes second- and fourth-place finishes over his past three tournaments.

“;Yeah, the aura, the atmosphere is a little different”; than last week, a grinning Choi said through his interpreter and manager, Michael Yim. “;But when you step on the tee box in the first hole, you still get that competitive pressure.”;

No one competed better at Harbour Town than Choi.

He used a stretch of three birdies over four holes on the front nine to take the lead, then had a similar run on the back to separate from a crowded pack and finish with his lowest score this season. Choi rolled in a 30-footer for birdie on the 13th to catch Jerry Kelly and Love. He closed his charge by putting his approach to 2 feet on the 16th for a birdie.

Choi, who turns 40 next month, said he reveled in every Masters moment with Woods last week and it helped him improve his patience and focus.

“;I think that is only going to help me more, and I'm thankful for the experience I had with Tiger,”; he said.

It was Choi's best-ever showing at Harbour Town. Then again, he'd only played here once before, missing the cut in 2001.

Most years, the native of South Korea is at his home in Texas recuperating after the Masters' grind. This time, Choi feels so good about his game — his 69.25 scoring average is second to Anthony Kim — he didn't want to take a break.

“;I've been playing good and I guess I wanted to keep the rhythm going,”; he said. “;And now that I'm here and I see the reactions of the gallery, the sponsors, I feel a lot of support here.”;

Weir discovered that, too. The 2003 Masters champion had only played the Heritage in 1999, the last year he hadn't qualified for Augusta. But Weir is missing events this summer because of family celebrations — he and wife Bricia's 40th birthdays; his brother's 50th; and his parents' 50th wedding anniversary — and needed earlier tournaments.

“;I forgot how narrow (Harbour Town) is, how tight some of the pin positions are, and how precise you have to be on a certain number of shots,”; he said. “;So that usually suits my game.”;

Three lead quarterfinal qualifiers

Cristie Kerr, Na Yeon Choi and Amanda Blumenherst each scored 13 points in their three six-holes matches to top the eight quarterfinal qualifiers in the inaugural Mojo 6 Jamaica LPGA Invitational at Montego Bay.

Kerr received the top seed for the quarterfinals in the Raceway Golf event at Cinnamon Hill, and Choi took the No. 2 seed based on their positions in the world rankings.