Daniel Chopra twice blew chances to win the Mercedes-Benz Championship on the 18th hole before claiming the title on the fourth playoff hole against Steve Stricker on Sunday.
All the times watching the US PGA Tour's season-opening event on television and playing the Plantation Course at Kapalua on a video game could never have prepared Chopra for his wild victory.
He got out of one jam on the 18th when his chip settled into a sprinkler cup and he might have avoided another one when 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.
SUNSET
A long, nail-biting start to the 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.
Chopra, who qualified for this winners-only tournament with his first tour victory only in the second-to-last event of last year, closed with a seven-under 66 and walked off with a number of prizes.
MASTERS
The Swede earned US$1.1 million and a Mercedes-Benz sports car. And his victory 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 he pulled his fairway metal on the ninth under an electronic scoreboard, 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 US PGA Tour comeback player of the year. Stricker birdied three of his last four holes to close with a 64 and force a playoff.
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