Shiv Chawrasia

Shiv Chawrasia
— Golfer —
Personal information
Full name Shiv Shankar Prasad Chawrasia
Nickname SSP, Chipputtsia
Born (1978-05-15) 15 May 1978
Kolkata, India
Height 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)
Nationality  India
Residence Kolkata, India
Spouse Simantini Prasad Chawrasia
Career
Turned professional 1997
Current tour(s) European Tour
Asian Tour
Professional wins 13
Number of wins by tour
European Tour 2
Asian Tour 3
Other 10

Shiv Shankar Prasad Chawrasia (born 15 May 1978), also known as "Chipputtsia",[1] and "Chow" is an Indian professional golfer. After he turned professional in 1997, he went on to win eight titles on the Indian Tour and finished second twice in the Indian Open.[2]

At the end of the 2014 season he asked the Asian Tour to change the spelling of his last name, previously Chowrasia, to Chawrasia, which is the spelling that is on his passport.

In February 2008, he won the inaugural Indian Masters, which was a part of the 2008 European Tour.[3]

In February 2011, Chawrasia won his second European Tour event winning the 2011 Avantha Masters in New Delhi.

Early life

Chawrasia's father worked as the greenskeeper at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club in Kolkata, India. It was at this golf course that Chawrasia picked up golf at the age of 10. The self-taught golfer is nicknamed "Chip-putt-sia" because of his short game.[1]

Professional breakthrough

Before entering professional golf, he was a caddie for a few years.[4] After entering professional golf in 1997, his earnings at the end of 1998 were $1,220.[1] Chawrasia finished second to Arjun Atwal in the 1999 Indian Open held at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club.[5]

He joined the Asian Tour in 2006 after making steady progress in India with cumulative earnings being $36,983 along with eight Indian Tour titles.[1]

His first season in the Asian Tour had a good opening event in the Pakistan Open, top-20 finishes in Philippine Open and in China. This was followed up with a top-10 finish at Bangkok Airways Open. At the Mercuries Masters in Taiwan, he led the field by five shots at the halfway mark, but was disqualified for forgetting to sign his scorecard.[5]

At the 2006 Hero Honda Indian Open, he narrowly missed out on winning the title. The title that won by Jyoti Randhawa, was decided by a play-off.[6] He ended 2006 with a tenth place in Volvo Masters.[5]

After being one stroke behind the leader on the opening day of the 2007 Malaysian Open,[7] he lost ground and ended up finishing tied for 16th at the end of the tournament.[8]

His Asian Tour ranking improved from 38 in 2006 to 32 in 2007.[5]

Indian Masters

The 2008 Indian Masters had golfers such as Ernie Els, Thomas Bjørn, Maarten Lafeber and Ross McGowan along with Indian golfers Arjun Atwal, Gaurav Ghei and Digvijay Singh vying for the title.[9] The event, which he won with a score of nine under par,[10] fetched him £239,705, which doubled his earnings over the past decade.[11] He was the only player to achieve sub-par rounds on all four days in this biggest golf event in India.[2]

After winning the title, Chawrasia said:

I never thought that I could win this tournament, but I don't know what I'm going to do in the future. I am sure I will play more both in Asia and Europe, but my ultimate target is to get onto the US Tour.[12]
It is the biggest win of my life. I can't describe my emotions. Only when I get back to Kolkata will it sink in.[10]

Chawrasia, ranked 388 in the world before the tournament,[10] obtained a two-year exemption on the European Tour.[12] After Jeev Milkha Singh and Arjun Atwal, he became the third Indian golfer to win on the European Tour.[12] Shortly after his victory, not only he was ranked 161 in the official world golf rankings, but also he topped the Asian Tour Order of Merit.[13]

Professional wins (13)

European Tour wins (2)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory		 Runner-up
1 10 Feb 2008 Emaar-MGF Indian Masters −9 (70-71-71-67=279) 2 strokes Republic of Ireland Damien McGrane
2 20 Feb 2011 Avantha Masters −15 (70-69-67-67=273) 1 stroke England Robert Coles

European Tour playoff record (0–1)

No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
1 2015 Hero Indian Open India Anirban Lahiri Lost to birdie on first extra hole

Asian Tour wins (3)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory		 Runner(s)-up
1 10 Feb 2008 Emaar-MGF Indian Masters −9 (70-71-71-67=279) 2 strokes Republic of Ireland Damien McGrane
2 20 Feb 2011 Avantha Masters −15 (70-69-67-67=273) 1 stroke England Robert Coles
3 9 Nov 2014 Panasonic Open India −12 (70-71-69-66=276) Playoff India Rahil Gangjee, Sri Lanka Mithun Perera

Indian Golf Tour wins (10)

Team appearances

Professional

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "S. S. P. Chawrasia". Asian Tour. Retrieved 2009-02-01. External link in |work= (help)
  2. 1 2 "Former caddie wins Indian Masters golf title". SABC News. 2008-02-10. Retrieved 2008-02-10. External link in |work= (help)
  3. ↑ "Chowrasia wins inaugural Indian Masters golf title". Indo-Asian News Service. 2008-02-10. Archived from the original on 2008-03-12. Retrieved 2008-02-10.
  4. ↑ "Chawrasia does a Houdini". The Telegraph (Kolkata) (Calcutta, India). 2008-02-10. Retrieved 2008-02-10.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Beyond My Wildest Dreams, Says Victor Chowrasia (Profile Feature)". News Post India. 2008-02-10. Retrieved 2008-02-10. External link in |work= (help)
  6. ↑ Rao, Rakesh (2006-10-24). "Short `birdie' gives Randhawa the title". The Hindu (Chennai, India). Retrieved 2008-02-10.
  7. ↑ "Chowrasia one stroke behind leader Rock". Rediff.com. 2007-02-08. Retrieved 2008-02-10.
  8. ↑ "Maybank Malaysian Open: Results". The Sports. Retrieved 2008-02-10. External link in |work= (help)
  9. ↑ Mehaffey, John (2008-02-10). "India's Chowrasia pulls off upset Indian Masters win". Reuters. Retrieved 2008-02-10.
  10. 1 2 3 "Chowrasia secures maiden tour win". BBC. 2008-02-10. Retrieved 2008-02-10.
  11. ↑ "Maiden win for Chowrasia". Sky Sports. 2008-02-10. Retrieved 2008-02-10.
  12. 1 2 3 Karim, Fariha (2008-02-10). "S S P Chowrasia claims biggest victory of career". Times Online (London). Retrieved 2008-02-10. External link in |work= (help)
  13. ↑ "Chowrasia now world no. 161, tops Asian Tour Order of Merit". The Times of India. 2008-02-11. Retrieved 2008-02-11.
  14. ↑ "Master’s fact file". The Telegraph (Calcutta, India). February 11, 2008. Retrieved 2009-02-01.

External links

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