By KEVIN MANAHAN

The call came into the fulfillment center right after the infomercial aired alast fall, and the phone conversation probably turned into a Bob Newhart comedy routine:

"Hello? Yes sir. You're having trouble with your putter? I hear that a lot. Don't worry, we can fix you right up.... How did you learn about our product? The Golf Channel, I see.... Me? NO, I watch the History Channel. Golf is bor-r-ring... Oh, of course, you're a golfer. Sorry... But (heh, heh) it's not like you're a pro, right? I mean, no self-respecting golfer is going to order this wacko thing. It looks like a rubber hose on a golf club. Pulleeze, Tiger would laugh at you....

"What's that? You ARE a pro? Oh, sorry..... Hey, is this Sergio? He can't putt either... Your name, sir?.. K.J.?.... Now, is that C-h-o-y? Oh, Choi, with an 'i'. Got it..... Mr. Choi, do you want to make the two easy payments of $19.95?.......What's that? You made $2.3 million this year? Whoa. Then you can afford to pay it all at once. Now, what's the credit card number?"

And that's how K.J. Choi fixed his putting stroke - with the 40 buck SuperStroke Grip he saw on TV. That modest layout already has turned into $1.5 million since he started using it on the course, and it could turn into about $12 million to $15 million more.

As Choi said with a thumbs-up and a grin yesterday, when asked about his purchase; "Good investment."

After practicing with the oversized grip "in the closet" since last September. Choi brought it onto the course for the AT&T National in July - and won. His copy-cat colleagues noticed and the gimmick has become the tour's Wonderboy: Just about everybody wants one.

Ron Creton, president of Stroke Solutions, the parent company, estimates 20 tour players are practicing with it and he expects several to slip it into their bags next year. Colin Montgomerie has had his putters outfitted. Jim Furyk, using it on the course this week for the first time after talking to Choi, is the latest to experiment with the fat and flat grip designed to keep putting strokes from getting wristy while keeping the clubface square through the ball.

®2007 The Star-Ledger