Shiv Shankar Prasad Chawrasia (born 15 May 1978), commonly known as S.S.P. Chawrasia, is an Indian professional golfer. Since 2008 he has won six Asian Tour events, four of which were co-sanctioned by the European Tour. He has had particular success in the Hero Indian Open where he was runner-up in 1999, 2006, 2013 and 2015 and winner in 2016 and 2017. Nearly all his success has been in India; his only win outside India being the 2016 Resorts World Manila Masters. At the end of the 2014 season he asked the Asian Tour to change the spelling of his last name, previously Chowrasia, to Chawrasia, the spelling that is on his passport.
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.
Professional career Before entering professional golf, he was a caddie for a few years. After entering professional golf in 1997, his earnings at the end of 1998 were $1,220. Chawrasia finished second to Arjun Atwal in the 1999 Indian Open held at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club.
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.
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. 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. He ended 2006 with a tenth place in Volvo Masters.
After being one stroke behind the leader on the opening day of the 2007 Malaysian Open, he lost ground and ended up finishing tied for 16th at the end of the tournament. His Asian Tour ranking improved from 38 in 2006 to 32 in 2007.
In February 2008, he won the inaugural Indian Masters, which was a part of the 2008 European Tour. The event, which he won with a score of nine under par, earned him £239,705, which doubled his earnings over the past decade. He was the only player to achieve sub-par rounds on all four days in this, the biggest golf event in India. Chawrasia, ranked 388 in the world before the tournament, obtained a two-year exemption on the European Tour. After Jeev Milkha Singh and Arjun Atwal, he became the third Indian golfer to win on the European Tour. Shortly after his victory, not only was he ranked 161 in the Official World Golf Ranking, but also he topped the Asian Tour Order of Merit.
In February 2011, Chawrasia won his second Asian Tour event, the Avantha Masters in New Delhi. Since then he has won the Panasonic Open India in 2014, the Hero Indian Open and the Resorts World Manila Masters in 2016 and the Hero Indian Open for the second time in 2017.
Chawrasia qualified for the 2016 Summer Olympics as the second highest ranked Indian player, representing India along with Anirban Lahiri.
Awards In August 2017, he was awarded the Arjuna Award by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India.
Professional wins (18) European Tour wins (4) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up110 Feb 2008Emaar-MGF Indian Masters1−9 (70-71-71-67=279)2 strokes Damien McGrane220 Feb 2011Avantha Masters1 (2)*−15 (70-69-67-67=273)1 stroke Robert Coles320 Mar 2016Hero Indian Open1−15 (67-67-68-71=273)2 strokes Anirban Lahiri, Wang Jeung-hun412 Mar 2017Hero Indian Open1 (2)−10 (72-67-68-71=278)7 strokes Gavin Green *Note: The European Tour considers the Avantha Masters to be a continuation of the Emaar-MGF Indian Masters, however the Asian Tour does not share this view. 1Co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour
European Tour playoff record (0–1) No.YearTournamentOpponentResult12015Hero Indian Open Anirban LahiriLost to birdie on first extra hole
Asian Tour wins (6) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up110 Feb 2008Emaar-MGF Indian Masters1−9 (70-71-71-67=279)2 strokes Damien McGrane220 Feb 2011Avantha Masters1−15 (70-69-67-67=273)1 stroke Robert Coles39 Nov 2014Panasonic Open India2−12 (70-71-69-66=276)Playoff Rahil Gangjee, Mithun Perera420 Mar 2016Hero Indian Open1−15 (67-67-68-71=273)2 strokes Anirban Lahiri, Wang Jeung-hun520 Nov 2016Resorts World Manila Masters−19 (68-64-71-66=269)Playoff Sam Chien, Nicholas Fung612 Mar 2017Hero Indian Open1 (2)−10 (72-67-68-71=278)7 strokes Gavin Green 1Co-sanctioned by the European Tour 2Co-sanctioned by the Professional Golf Tour of India
Asian Tour playoff record (2–2) No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result12006Hero Honda Indian Open Vijay Kumar, Jyoti RandhawaRandhawa won with birdie on second extra holeKumar eliminated by par on first hole22014Panasonic Open India Rahil Gangjee, Mithun PereraWon with birdie on first extra hole32015Hero Indian Open Anirban LahiriLost to birdie on first extra hole42016Resorts World Manila Masters Sam Chien, Nicholas FungWon with birdie on second extra holeFung eliminated by birdie on first hole
Professional Golf Tour of India wins (4) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up110 Nov 2006Tata Open−15 (72-64-67-64=267)4 strokes Vivek Bhandari, Naman Dawar213 Mar 2010Solaris Chemtech Open Golf Championship−13 (69-68-73-65=275)1 stroke R. Murthy31 Dec 2012McLeod Russel Tour Championship−9 (72-70-69-68=279)1 stroke Shamim Khan49 Nov 2014Panasonic Open India1−12 (70-71-69-66=276)Playoff Rahil Gangjee, Mithun Perera 1Co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour
PGA of India Tour wins (9) 2001 Singhania Open 2003 HT Pro Golf, Tata Open, Hero Honda Open, NGC Open 2005 Singhania Open, Tata Open 2006 Singhania Open, Hindu Open
Results in World Golf Championships Results not in chronological order before 2015. Tournament2008200920102011201220132014201520162017ChampionshipT51T49Match PlayInvitationalChampions65T46T31
"T" = Tied Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.
Team appearances Professional EurAsia Cup (representing Asia): 2016, 2018 World Cup (representing India): 2016
See also 2019 European Tour Qualifying School graduates List of golfers with most Asian Tour wins
References
External links