SMI News - Daniel Chopra Mercedes Benz Championship Kapalua Winner

January 6, 2008

Daniel Chopra won the season starter Mercedes-Benz Championship at Kapalua on 6th January this year. The win made him qualify for the Augusta Masters and World Golf Championship where he would be rounding off against such players as Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh, and Phil Mickelson and many more of the world’s top golfers.

The win was the second title win for Daniel Chopra in three tournaments. He had earlier won the title on October 29, 2007 Ginn sur Mer Classic at Tesoro. The win at the season starter definitely did a lot to boost his confidence.

The win at the Mercedes-Benz Championship was special for Daniel Chopra who said that he felt as if the golf course was designed by him. Daniel Chopra said that he was quite familiar with the tracks and the course, as he had seen it many times on TV and video games. Daniel defeated Steve Stricker in a playoff on Sunday, at the fourth extra hole for the championship title. The Kapalua golf course is 7411 yards long but the big hitting Chopra was at ease through the course and used the slopes well.

Earlier in 2007 when Daniel Chopra went in to play at the Ginn sur Mer Classic at Tesoro, he was ranked 202 in the world. His win at Tesoro propelled him to rank 141 and thus made him eligible for playing at the Mercedes-Benz Classic and he made great use of it. The Kapalua tournament was followed by the Sony Open but he failed in it as he managed to finish at 32nd spot. The two tournament results propelled him to the 60th spot in the world rankings and thus made him eligible for the World Golf Championships.

Korean player K.J. Choi won the Sony Open thus becoming eligible along with Swede Daniel Chopra and South African Richard Sterne to participate in the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship, which features the top 64 golfers of the world who square off against each other. The tournament will take place at The Gallery Golf Club situated at Dove Mountains in Marana in Arizona from February 18 to 24. Daniel Chopra said in an interview after his win in Kapalua that he is feeling very confident and is very happy to be able to play in the Augusta Masters.

Daniel Chopra (born: Daniel Samir Chopra) was born to an Indian father and Swedish mother in Stockholm, Sweden. He was raised by his grand parents in Delhi from the age of seven where he learned playing golf at Delhi Golf Club. At the age of fourteen, he won the All India Junior Golf Championship. He turned pro in his teens in 1992 and represented Sweden as he toured Asia, Australia, and Europe before finding his place in the US PGA tour in 2004.

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David Maraghy
SMI
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