Daniel Chopra

Daniel Samir Chopra (born 23 December 1973) is a Swedish professional golfer.

Daniel Chopra
Chopra at the 2008 U.S. Open
Personal information
Full name	Daniel Samir Chopra
Nickname	Danny Chops[1]
Born	(1973-12-23) 23 December 1973 (age 52) Stockholm, Sweden
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight	180 lb (82 kg; 13 st)
Sporting nationality	Sweden
Residence	Orlando, Florida, U.S.
Partner	Samantha ​ (m. 2000)​
Children	2
Career
Turned professional	1992
Former tours	PGA Tour European Tour Asian Tour Asia Golf Circuit Web.com Tour Challenge Tour Swedish Golf Tour
Professional wins	14
Highest ranking	60 (13 January 2008)[2]
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour	2
Asian Tour	1
Korn Ferry Tour	3
Challenge Tour	2
Other	6
Best results in major championships
Masters Tournament	CUT: 2008
PGA Championship	T41: 2006
U.S. Open	T24: 2004
The Open Championship	CUT: 2005, 2012
Achievements and awards
Asia Golf Circuit Rookie of the Year 1995

Early life

Chopra was born in Stockholm, Sweden. He represents Sweden and his mother was Swedish, but his father was Indian and Daniel moved to India at age seven where he was raised by his grandparents. He won the All-India Junior Golf Championship at age 14.^[3][4]

Professional career

In 1992, Chopra turned professional. From 1996 to 2002 he played intermittently on the European Tour, sometimes failing to retain his tour card, and in 2004 he joined the U.S.-based PGA Tour.

With his victory at the 2004 Henrico County Open on the second tier Nationwide Tour, Chopra shot a new tour record over 72 holes in relation to par, shooting a 30-under-par score of 258. The record stood for 20 years until it was beaten in April 2024 by Chopra's fellow countryman Tim Widing.^[5]

In 2007, Chopra won his first PGA Tour event at the Ginn sur Mer Classic at Tesoro. Two PGA Tour events later he picked up another win at the season opening Mercedes-Benz Championship. On January 13, 2008, Chopra reached a career best 60th on the Official World Golf Ranking.^[6]

After his second PGA Tour win, Chopra's career started to fluctuate between the PGA Tour and second-tier (what was then) Nationwide Tour.

A difficult 2010 season, where he made only eight PGA Tour cuts in 28 events, cost him his Tour Card. He won the Nationwide Tour's Fresh Express Classic at TPC Stonebrae in 2011. Chopra regained his PGA Tour card for 2012 after finishing 19th on the money list. He finished 188th on the Tour's money list and went back to the newly renamed Web.com Tour for 2013. He finished 21st on the 2013 Web.com Tour regular season money list to earn his 2014 PGA Tour card. In 2013–14, he made only 2 cuts in 16 events and finished 249th on the FedEx Cup points list and lost his PGA Tour card.

In 2015, with limited status on either the PGA or Web.com Tour, Chopra won the Asian Tour's qualifying school.

Chopra became a regular part of Fox Sports' golf coverage.

Awards, honors

In 1997, Chopra received Elit Sign number 111 by the Swedish Golf Federation on the basis of national team appearances and national championship performances.^[7]

In 2008, he was awarded honorary member of the PGA of Sweden.^[8]

Amateur wins

• 1988 All India Junior Championship
• 1990 All India Junior Championship
• 1991 All India Junior Championship, Doug Sanders World Junior Championship

Professional wins (14)

PGA Tour wins (2)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	29 Oct 2007	Ginn sur Mer Classic	−19 (67-66-69-71=273)	1 stroke	Freddie Jacobson, Shigeki Maruyama
2	6 Jan 2008	Mercedes-Benz Championship	−18 (69-72-67-66=274)	Playoff	Steve Stricker

PGA Tour playoff record (1–0)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent	Result
1	2008	Mercedes-Benz Championship	Steve Stricker	Won with birdie on fourth extra hole

Asian PGA Tour wins (1)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner-up
1	9 Sep 2001	Mercuries Taiwan Masters	−4 (71-69-73-71=284)	1 stroke	Vivek Bhandari

Asia Golf Circuit wins (1)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner-up
1	9 Apr 1995	Chinfon Republic of China Open	−8 (73-65-70=208)[a]	1 stroke	Hsieh Chin-sheng

Nationwide Tour wins (3)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	18 Apr 2004	First Tee Arkansas Classic	−13 (75-66-68-66=275)	1 stroke	John Elliott
2	23 May 2004	Henrico County Open	−30 (65-63-65-65=258)	4 strokes	Nathan Green, Franklin Langham
3	17 Apr 2011	Fresh Express Classic	−12 (68-69-61=198)[a]	1 stroke	Russell Knox, Luke List

Challenge Tour wins (2)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner-up
1	24 Jul 1994	Jämtland Open	−9 (71-71-68=210)	1 stroke	Mats Hallberg
2	2 Oct 1994	Challenge Chargeurs	−16 (68-64-64-72=268)	9 strokes	Stuart Little

Swedish Golf Tour wins (1)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner-up
1	19 Sep 1993	Upsala Golf International	−4 (72-69-71=212)	3 strokes	Joakim Nilsson

Other wins (4)

• 1993 Johor Baru Open (Malaysia)
• 1994 Indian Masters, Malaysian PGA Championship, Indian PGA Championship

Playoff record

European Tour playoff record (0–1)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent	Result
1	2007	MasterCard Masters	Aaron Baddeley	Lost to par on fourth extra hole

Results in major championships

Tournament	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
Masters Tournament					CUT
U.S. Open	T24				T36
The Open Championship		CUT
PGA Championship			T41	CUT	CUT

Tournament	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
Masters Tournament
U.S. Open								CUT
The Open Championship			CUT
PGA Championship

  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied

Results in The Players Championship

Tournament	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010
The Players Championship	T40	CUT	T44	T42	T14	CUT

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Results in World Golf Championships

Tournament	2008
Match Play	R64
Championship	T34
Invitational	T14

QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = Tied

See also

• 2003 PGA Tour Qualifying School graduates
• 2011 Nationwide Tour graduates
• 2013 Web.com Tour Finals graduates

Notes

1. Shortened to 54 holes due to weather.