Daniel Chopra

Chopra earned his card via the Nationwide Tour. He played twice last season and earned a small sum of just more than $15K. Chopra's $15K is the equivalent of two made cuts throughout the season. Let's hope he can make at least two cuts this season while playing a full schedule on the PGA Tour.

Chopra's game inexplicably fell way off last season, but there's no reason to think he won't rebound this year. Chopra averaged roughly $1.5 million in earnings from 2006-2008 and should be able to get back to that range again this year. Chopra received a two-year exemption for winning the Mercedes-Benz Championship in 2008, and hopefully the changes he made to his swing following that victory result in more-consistent ball striking for him this season.

Chopra is Paul Goydos 2.0. He's just a little better than the original. Chopra, like Goydos prefers to work only a couple weeks per season. Chopra however usually mixes in one other good showing, but that was not the case last year. Chopra won the Mercedes in January and did nothing the rest of the way. With Chopra you have to figure out if he can win again in 2009.

Chopra can putt, this we know, it’s the other parts of his game that need some help. Chopra was staring Q-school in the face last season until a couple strong finishes not only saved him from Q-School, but propelled him into the top-50. A win late in the fall season earned him over $800k, that accounts for nearly half of his entire 2007 earnings. A win in the fall season accounting for so much of your earnings is not the formula you look for when selecting players.

Chopra could not get it going early in his rookie season of 2004 but turned it on late. We are beginning to think it might be a good idea to take players like Chopra -- that turned it on at the end of the season.