Daniel Chopra lifts the fog stricken Fresh Express Classic title on the Nationwide Tour
Daniel Chopra’s hard work on Saturday, when he established a new course record of 61, helped him to lift the title in the final round of Fresh Express Classic on Sunday, as the tournament was ultimately cancelled in view of the dense fog which engulfed most
part of San Francisco and Northern California.
This is Chopra’s third win on the Nationwide Tour. He had posted a 12-under, 198 in the third round, which helped him immensely on the fog-stricken final day as he remained on top of the leaderboard.
Final day’s proceedings were delayed for four hours early in the morning. Organizers gave a green signal to the players at 1.30 p.m. to go ahead with rest of the day’s proceedings, but the match was again brought to a standstill with fog returning on the
course.
There was no option available to extend the final round to Monday, and the tour organizers decided to call it a day, and third round’s results were declared as the final results. Chopra overtook Luke List and Russell Knox with one shot.
“A win is a win and I feel just as happy as if we would have finished today,” said Chopra, “I'm kind of shock, really. All of a sudden the buzzer sounds and I have this (trophy).”
Chopra won his first title on the tour in 2004 when he won the Henrico County Open. His second win on the tour came after a painfully long span of four years when he won the 2008 Mercedes-Benz Championship, on the playoff with Steve Stricker.
“We were eight minutes away from calling the tournament and suddenly the fog disappeared and we were playing,” said Chopra. “For most of the day it looked like we weren't going to play. The hardest thing was the mental uncertainty because I haven't been
in this position for a few years.”
With this win, Chopra not only bagged the winner’s prize share of $108,000, but has also soared to the No.3 spot on the Tour’s Money List. At the age of 37, he is also third of four players who have won a title on the tour in their 30’s for the year 2011.
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