A winning feel
Daniel Chopra exchanges views on golf and life
| And it is such a great feeling," says Chopra, currently in India for the BILT Skins Challenge, which also features Vijay Singh and Todd Hamilton. |
| Things have been great for Chopra this year. He kept his US Tour card for 2005, won two events on the Nationwide and had a brilliant fourth place finish at the Deutsche Bank tournament, which became historic, as it was there that Vijay Singh dislodged Tiger Woods from the No. 1 spot. |
| "Vijay Singh won, Tiger was third and I was fourth. That gave me the feeling that I belonged there in PGA. I could play and compete with the best," says Chopra. |
| An Indian to the core of his heart, Chopra is half Indian and half Swede. His wife, Samantha is half Indian and half Australian. His home is Australia and he plays on the US Tour and had once hit a ball off the Great Wall of China. |
| It was in India, at the Delhi Golf Club, that Chopra took his first lessons in golf. The Swedish passport was more for convenience. "I would love to have an Indian passport too," he said on his last visit. A dual passport may soon be a reality, but till then he is seen as Swedish on the US Tour. But he knows he is as Indian as any Indian can be. |
| It was a couple of years back, during one of the Asian Tour events in New Delhi, that Chopra asked the media, "Why do you keep referring to me as a Swede? I would like to be known as an Indian. After all, this is where is I learnt my golf. |
| My passport is Swedish but my heart is Indian." Since that day, some kind of a compromise seems to have been worked out between Daniel Chopra and the media. He is now referred to as Indo-Swede. For the time being that seems to keep Chopra happy. |
| He set a new first for an Indian (!) golfer by winning a pro event in the US when he grabbed the $500,000 First Tee Arkansas Classic, a premier event on the Nationwide Tour. At the Diamante Country Golf Club, which is the longest course on the Nationwide Tour, he finished with a hat-trick of birdies for a final round of six-under 66 and a total of 13-under par 275. |
| Chopra's website, which he and his wife keep going, has the colours of the Indian flag. And he lists among his favourite food, chicken tikka. And among his favourite clubs is the Delhi Golf Club. "That's where I started out," he says. |
| For the first part of the 2004 season in US, his rookie year, Chopra admittedly worked hard. "I was thinking about making cuts rather than simply playing my best. I was missing more cuts than I was making. |
| Then when I did not get into one of the PGA events, I went for the Nationwide, where I'd played the previous year. I won. That reaffirmed what I had always believed, which is that I belonged in that league. I also got the winning feeling, which is important." |
| A few weeks later, when he did not make it into one of the PGA events, he went back to the Nationwide yet again. He won with a record 30-under score, only the second player to have recorded such a score. Only Ernie Els on a par-73 course had done it before, and Chopra did it on a par-72 course. |
| "I love playing, which is why when I did not get into an event on PGA Tour, I went to Nationwide. That has helped." |
| It helped a lot, in fact. Armed with confidence now, he went on a great run. He registered top 10 and then came the fourth place at the Deutsche Bank event, which fetched him $220,000. |
| "Once I secured the card, I was excited. But maybe that's when I should have taken a break and re-charged myself. But I kept playing. I was drained and started missing the cuts again towards the end. But it has been a great learning lesson," said Chopra. |
| Chopra went through the grind of the Asian Tour and then moved to the European Challenge Tour before making it to the European Tour via the Q-School in 1995. |
| He played in Europe between 1996 and 2000 and even came second in the Czech Open in 1996 and third at Madeira Open once. But then form deserted him and he lost his card in Europe and then at one stage in 2001 was without a card on any Tour. |
| "That was the time when I was prepared to go back to teaching, earning a little and then coming to pro tour," he once said. |
| Now that he has a job secure in hand for 2005, there is a sense of contentment. "But I have newer goals. I want to secure the card early next year and then get into top 70 and then top 40 for all Majors and then top 30 to play the year-ending Tour Championships. And I think I am playing well enough to do that." |