A WINNER IN ABERDEEN AS TEENAGER, DANIEL CHOPRA
IS NOW IN RECKONING FOR
EURO RYDER CUP PLACE
FROM THE SPORTING LIFE WEBSITE:
By Mark Garrod, PA Sport Golf Correspondent
Daniel Chopra, pictured right, earned fame as the first person to hit a golf ball off the Great Wall of China.
Now, following his second US Tour win in three starts, he might earn some more as the first player to win a European Ryder Cup cap without visiting Europe.
The 34-year-old Swede, a "Star Trek" fanatic, has beamed his way up to second place behind Justin Rose in the points race after beating new World No 3 Steve Stricker at the fourth hole of a play-off in the season-opening Mercedes-Benz Championship in Hawaii.
They had tied on 18 under par after Chopra shot a seven-under-par 66 and Stricker a 64.
Chopra qualified for the winners-only event in October, but unlike the Ginn sur Mer Classic in Florida this one earns him a Masters debut at Augusta in April - "my lifelong dream," he said - as well as more than a million dollars and a Mercedes sports car.
In seven trips to the European Tour qualifying school Chopra, raised by his grandparents in India after being born in Stockholm of a Swedish mother and Indian father who met while studying in England, was successful only once - in 1995. His highest finish on the Order of Merit was 36th the following year, but after losing his card in 1999 and failing to get it back four times he made it onto the American circuit.
His only event in Europe since has been the 2005 Open at St Andrews, where he missed the halfway cut. But he is eligible for the Ryder Cup as an affiliate member of the European Tour and in November lost a four-hole play-off to Aaron Baddeley for the co-sanctioned MasterCard Masters in Australia.
Asked after his latest win about the possibility of a cup debut in Louisville in September, Chopra commented: "That would be fun. You know, with the Ryder Cup here in the United States on an American-style golf course, which I'm used to playing, maybe that's something that might be beneficial to the team.
"Who knows? We'll see - I mean, it's a long way away still. I've obviously got some Ryder Cup points that will propel me up the rankings, but the European Tour has a lot of tournaments and I still have to be in the top five of the ranked players in the world. I have to play well and when you consider guys like (Padraig) Harrington and (Henrik) Stenson and Monty (Colin Montgomerie) and all those guys, Sergio (Garcia), they're going to be racking up points.
"I've got to beat those guys. I have to be amongst the very elite that Europe has in order to make the team, which is a tough road. But I'm in position now."
Europe's system is that the first five come off a world ranking points table, with the next five being selected based on earnings only in European Tour events and captain Nick Faldo - in his television commentating role there to see Chopra triumph - then naming two wild cards.
"Hopefully he'll have some insight into what I can do to improve. I'm sure we'll chat about it soon and I have thought about the fact that he's out there watching," Chopra added.
"It was an unbelievable day really - that's the best final round I've ever played to win a tournament. I felt very comfortable all week. I guess the win (three months ago) made me more comfortable - I felt like I did belong now and I was a winner.
"There's not a golf course out there that suits me more. I just loved it from the moment I saw it and I've obviously been familiar with it from on TV."
And from playing it on his Playstation.
"Obviously the adrenaline is pumping and you're nervous, but I felt more in control. I knew I was familiar with those feelings and I'm sure next time in contention I'll even be more comfortable.
"Hopefully that is the case and you build on that and then you get in contention more and more."
Daniel Chopra, pictured right, earned fame as the first person to hit a golf ball off the Great Wall of China.
Now, following his second US Tour win in three starts, he might earn some more as the first player to win a European Ryder Cup cap without visiting Europe.
The 34-year-old Swede, a "Star Trek" fanatic, has beamed his way up to second place behind Justin Rose in the points race after beating new World No 3 Steve Stricker at the fourth hole of a play-off in the season-opening Mercedes-Benz Championship in Hawaii.
They had tied on 18 under par after Chopra shot a seven-under-par 66 and Stricker a 64.
Chopra qualified for the winners-only event in October, but unlike the Ginn sur Mer Classic in Florida this one earns him a Masters debut at Augusta in April - "my lifelong dream," he said - as well as more than a million dollars and a Mercedes sports car.
In seven trips to the European Tour qualifying school Chopra, raised by his grandparents in India after being born in Stockholm of a Swedish mother and Indian father who met while studying in England, was successful only once - in 1995. His highest finish on the Order of Merit was 36th the following year, but after losing his card in 1999 and failing to get it back four times he made it onto the American circuit.
His only event in Europe since has been the 2005 Open at St Andrews, where he missed the halfway cut. But he is eligible for the Ryder Cup as an affiliate member of the European Tour and in November lost a four-hole play-off to Aaron Baddeley for the co-sanctioned MasterCard Masters in Australia.
Asked after his latest win about the possibility of a cup debut in Louisville in September, Chopra commented: "That would be fun. You know, with the Ryder Cup here in the United States on an American-style golf course, which I'm used to playing, maybe that's something that might be beneficial to the team.
"Who knows? We'll see - I mean, it's a long way away still. I've obviously got some Ryder Cup points that will propel me up the rankings, but the European Tour has a lot of tournaments and I still have to be in the top five of the ranked players in the world. I have to play well and when you consider guys like (Padraig) Harrington and (Henrik) Stenson and Monty (Colin Montgomerie) and all those guys, Sergio (Garcia), they're going to be racking up points.
"I've got to beat those guys. I have to be amongst the very elite that Europe has in order to make the team, which is a tough road. But I'm in position now."
Europe's system is that the first five come off a world ranking points table, with the next five being selected based on earnings only in European Tour events and captain Nick Faldo - in his television commentating role there to see Chopra triumph - then naming two wild cards.
"Hopefully he'll have some insight into what I can do to improve. I'm sure we'll chat about it soon and I have thought about the fact that he's out there watching," Chopra added.
"It was an unbelievable day really - that's the best final round I've ever played to win a tournament. I felt very comfortable all week. I guess the win (three months ago) made me more comfortable - I felt like I did belong now and I was a winner.
"There's not a golf course out there that suits me more. I just loved it from the moment I saw it and I've obviously been familiar with it from on TV."
And from playing it on his Playstation.
"Obviously the adrenaline is pumping and you're nervous, but I felt more in control. I knew I was familiar with those feelings and I'm sure next time in contention I'll even be more comfortable.
"Hopefully that is the case and you build on that and then you get in contention more and more."
+Daniel Chopra won the Doug Sanders world junior championship at Aberdeen as a teenager before he turned professional.
Labels: Pro Men
posted by Colin |
See story on its own page | Tuesday, January 08, 2008
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