Daniel Chopra File
CHOPRA BY THE NUMBERS
2 Professional Golf Association (PGA) Tour wins
14 Total wins as a professional golfer
15 Years on the professional circuit
24 Best finish at a major championship (US Open, 2004)
34 His age (he was born Dec. 23, 1973, in Stockholm, Sweden)
180 His weight in pounds
1.75 million His 2007 tour winnings in dollars
CHOPRA QUOTES
“It’s amazing. It is something that I’ve dreamed about for a long time (winning first PGA tournament).” (WorldGolf.com)
“Getting into Augusta (the Masters) has been the neatest thing. ? It’s very enjoyable to feel you have actually done something very special.” (PGATour.com)
“India is a place saturated in culture, climate and history, and growing up there certainly helped my adaptation and appreciation to other environments. And growing up on the food and water has given me a cast iron stomach!” (East West Magazine)
CHOPRA FACTS
Born to a Swedish mother and Indian father, Chopra was raised in India by his grandparents from age 8. He won the All-India Junior Golf Championship at age 14 and turned professional in 1992 when he was still a teen-ager.
Before joining the PGA tour in 2004, he played mostly in Europe and Asia, winning such tournaments as the Taiwan Masters and the Indian PGA Championship, but also suffering through some major slumps.
In October 2007, he won his first PGA Tour event, the Ginn sur Mer Classic at Port St. Lucie, Florida, earning a purse of $810,000. Just two PGA Tour events later, in early January, he won his second PGA event, the Mercedes-Benz Championship in Hawaii, earning $1.1 million and qualifying for this year’s Masters in Augusta.
His wife, Samantha, hails from Australia and is also half-Indian. According to his website, “She loves yoga and believes handbags are family heirlooms.”
CHOPRA TRIVIA
He marks his ball with a coin bearing a Japanese saying about fortune favoring the brave.
His dog, a black puggle named Cosmo, shares his birthday (Dec. 23).
In 2001, he was so broke that he had to borrow $5,000 from fellow golfer Jeev Milkha Singh, which enabled him to travel to some Asian tournaments.
CHOPRA ON THE WEB
www.DanielChopra.com
His official website, which includes latest news, stats and photographs.
www.pgatour.com/players/02/08/50/stats/
His PGA stats page
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