Chopra tied-16 at USPGA Tour Q-School

Sweden’s Daniel Chopra took a decisive step forward towards achieving his dream of qualifying for the prestigious USPGA Tour, when he returned a four-under 68 to tie for the 16th spot after the opening round of the six-round final stage of the USPGA Tour Qualifying School.

The Q-School is being staged at the par-72, Bear Lakes Country Club in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Jeev Milkha Singh, India’s only representative, disappointed with a one-under 71 to tie at 81st position.

The opening round witnessed extremely low scores with as many as six players occupying the lead at six-under 66 apiece. The leaders included Craig Bowden, Lee Porter, Boo Weekely, Ben Bates, Jaxon Brigman, Eduardo Herrera and Kevin Durkin.

Chopra, who is of Indian origin, had an impressive front-nine, with a birdie start to his round followed by two more birdies on the 3rd and 7th. Going into his back nine at three-under, he went on to return two more birdies with a lone bogey on the 16th.

The Hero Honda sponsored Jeev on the other hand, had a forgettable outward journey with his two birdies overshadowed by three bogeys and a double bogey on the 9th. His back-nine was a saving grace as the 29-year old Chandigarh golfer birdied five holes with a lone bogey on the 14th.

The six leaders are Jaxon Brigman, whose scorecard error two years ago kept him from getting his PGA Tour card, Craig Bowden, Lee Porter, Boo Weekley, Eduardo Herrera and Kevin Durkin.

Only the top 35 players and ties out of the 167 players in the field, after the six-round tournament will graduate for the PGA Tour next year.

There are 15 players in the field who have PGA Tour titles to their name, including Tommy Armour III, Michael Bradley, Russ Cochran, Robert Gamez, Paul Goydos, Nolan Henke, Blaine McCallister, Jim McGovern, Dicky Pride and Ted Tryba.

Q-school final is golf's annual test, a six-day, 108-hole marathon that will determine the 2002 status for the players who have qualified through two stages. The tournament is scheduled to end on Monday.

Jeev had qualified for the final stage after he finished with a four-under 284 to emerge in tied-seventh position after the completion of the second stage of qualifying on the Black Horse Course, Seaside, California, United States.