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MERCEDES-BENZ CHAMPIONSHIPJanuary 7, 2009Daniel ChopraKAPALUA, HAWAII Q. Talk about defending this week. DANIEL CHOPRA: It's a lot of fun to come back. The golf course is playing probably more of the way it's planned. This year it's a little firmer off the tee, and I think it will play a little bit more the way it normally plays. Q. Good memories? DANIEL CHOPRA: Oh, great memories. It's a lot of fun. Every time I come back, every hole I play, I'm remembering where I hit it in the final round or in the playoff. So in that regard, it is a lot of fun. Q. What did last year's win do for you? DANIEL CHOPRA: It was a validation of my first win, to start with. It just made me feel very good about what I've achieved in the first place, and the second win, it definitely makes you feel like you belong in the winner's circle. And being as prestigious an event as this, and first event of the year, it frees you up for the rest of the year and puts you in a good position. It got me in a lot of the majors and the World Golf Championships. So in that regard, it was very important. Q. Can you talk about your year last year? DANIEL CHOPRA: Well, the beginning part of the year was pretty good. I played decently for a little bit after that, and I just decided that there was some changes that needed to be made in my golf swing. I got a new coach and started working, and I made some pretty decent changes, and that really affected my golf game to the point where I had to change the specs on my golf clubs a little bit as well, and the lie angles, and just try to get all that right to get to a point where I'm more comfortable with what I'm trying to do and not being playing tournament golf at the same time. I was committed to a lot of events at the end of the year, as well. In a way, it was good, because it gave me the time to go ahead and make changes and acclimatize myself to those, as well. Hopefully this year, that will start to click. Q. In layman's terms? DANIEL CHOPRA: There's a few. One change led to another and another and another, so it was a chain reaction of things that needed to be changed. Going back from primarily flattening my backswing, but that affected a lot of other things, as well. Doing that, you have to change the way you release the club. So the main thing is just a slightly flatter backswing going back. Q. Is the course playing longer this year? DANIEL CHOPRA: Shorter. Q. Is that good for you? DANIEL CHOPRA: Well, I mean, I think -- I'm not really sure. It just kind of depends on where you want to hit it on the fairway. Into the wind, it's not going to go very far anyway. Q. When did you start to feel comfortable with the changes you made? DANIEL CHOPRA: I'm not yet. I'm still not 100% but I'm better than I was at the end of the season last year. The little time I had off at home really helped, being able to practice, stress-free golf, and allowed a little confidence to be able to sink in. I'm not far away, and it's just a matter of, it could be this week or next. It's getting close. Q. Does winning an event like this add expectations or pressure at all? DANIEL CHOPRA: I guess maybe just in the very beginning part of the tournament, you have a slightly different type of anxiety, the first couple of holes. But after that, you just get back into the normal flow of tournament play. So I don't really anticipate it being much of a factor at all. Q. Anything new in your bag? DANIEL CHOPRA: No, everything is the same. Except for the defending champion bag I'm carrying this week, a PING bag, all of the defending PING champions carry the black bag. Q. Does the blond hair add luck? DANIEL CHOPRA: No. Just if you believe in that sort of stuff, which I don't. End of FastScripts |
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