TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Swedish golfer Chopra hopes for best ‘homecoming’ result in Indonesia Open
For Sweden's Daniel Chopra, who is now playing on a Professional Golf Association (PGA) tour, coming to Jakarta is not merely about competing at the course and trying to win a title. It is more about reminiscing over his good memories of the city and the event’s venue, the Pondok Indah Golf Course, where he spent some of his junior years practicing and playing.
Change Size
Swedish golfer Daniel Chopra (right) jokes around with Thai’s Jazz Janewattananond (left) during a press conference for the 39th Bank BRI Indonesia Open in Jakarta on Aug. 27. (JP/Ramadani Saputra)
A
fter receiving a call from Indonesian Golf Association (PGI) head Murdaya Po, who invited him to play in the 39th Bank BRI Indonesia Open, Swedish golfer Daniel Chopra went straight to his computer to book a ticket to Jakarta.
For Chopra, who is now playing on a Professional Golf Association (PGA) tour, coming to Jakarta is not merely about competing at the course and trying to win a title. It is more about reminiscing over his good memories of the city and the event’s venue, the Pondok Indah Golf Course, where he spent some of his junior years practicing and playing.
“I first came here in 1987 as a junior golfer; my coach was based here at Pondok Indah so I would come and spend two or three months every year for a period of four to five years.
“This is like the second home to me. All the memories I have growing up are about running around the property here as a kid,” he told journalists on Tuesday at a press conference of the 29th Indonesia Open in Jakarta.
After missing the tournament for a few years, the 45-year-old golfer, who turned pro in 1992, made his comeback in 2017. He said as soon as he knew that the tournament would be held at the Pondok Indah Golf Course, he decided to give it a go since it would give him the opportunity to see the nostalgic golf course again.
“My first Indonesia Open that I actually played was in 1988. Then I finished second at the Indonesia Open in 1993 at the Jagorawi [gold and country club]. I know so many people here. I have so many friends from here. It’s a country that I really love coming back to,” he said.
In the 2019 Indonesia Open, which will be held from Thursday to Sunday, Chopra, who has collected two wins in the PGA Tour, is to compete alongside top contenders such as two-time champion Gaganjeet Bhullar of India, Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond and South African J. C. Ritchie, who currently leads the African circuit Sunshine tour order of merit, as well as Indonesia’s favorite, Danny Masrin.
