Chopra pulls off wild win at Kapalua

KAPALUA, Hawaii -- All those times watching the Mercedes-Benz Championship on television and playing the Plantation Course at Kapalua on a video game could never have prepared Daniel Chopra for his wild playoff victory Sunday.

He twice blew chances to win the tournament on the 18th hole.

He got out of one jam when his chip settled into a sprinkler cup, and he might have avoided another one when Steve Stricker’s long putt on the first playoff hole was slowed by hitting Chopra’s ball mark. Two birdie putts in the playoff were held up by a blade of grass.

A long, nail-biting start to the PGA Tour finally ended as the sun dipped below the Pacific’s horizon when Chopra two-putted for birdie on the par-five ninth to beat Stricker in four extra holes.

Chopra, who qualified for this winners-only tournament with his first PGA Tour victory in the second-to-last event of last year, closed with a seven-under-par 66 and walked off with a number of prizes.

The Swede earned $1.1 million and a Mercedes-Benz sports car. And his victory in Hawaii earned him his first trip to the Masters.

“I get to go to Augusta, my lifelong dream,” Chopra said.

Stricker also had a birdie putt that grazed the lip on the third playoff hole, but on the next hole, he pulled his fairway metal on his approach, chipped 15 feet by the cup and missed the putt that would have sent them to the 18th for a third time.

But it was a valiant comeback for the two-time PGA Tour comeback player of the year. Stricker birdied three of his last four holes to close with a 64 and a total of 18-under 274 to force a playoff.

“Building blocks,” Stricker said as his voice started to choke, this time more out of disappointment than raw emotion.