Daniel Berger

Berger, who started playing golf when he was 11, turned professional in 2013 after his sophomore season at Florida State. He was a First-Team All-American that year and finished runner-up to Max Homa at the 2013 NCAA Championship.
Berger has spent time around a lot of PGA Tour players. While still in high school, he worked on the range at the Dye Preserve in Jupiter, Fla., in return for playing privileges. That club has more than a dozen PGA Tour and Web.com Tour members and many of them took Berger under their wing and let the youngster play with them.
Berger's decision to turn professional so soon after his sophomore season was difficult, but he felt it was best for him. So in the summer of 2013, he played in four Web.com Tour events, missed the cut in three of them and finished T-47th at the Price Cutter Charity. He then tried to qualify for the Web.com Tour and was runner-up in the second stage at Plantation Reserve Golf Course and Club in Plantation, Fla. In the finals, he opened with rounds of 71-75, then shot a third-round 63 at PGA West to jump 94 spots to T-24th. He closed the season with 68-68-73 to finish T-32nd, securing status for the start of the 2014 season. Thus far, he has two 3rd-place finishes, at the Mexico Championship and the Panama Classic. Berger is currently 11th on the Web.com Tour money list with $117,766.
Berger's father, Jay, was a successful tennis player. He advanced to the round of 16 at the 1985 U.S. Open after his freshman season at Clemson. He turned professional the next year, eventually becoming one of the world's top-10 players. Jay Berger is now the U.S. Tennis Association's head of men's tennis. He was the United States head coach at the 2012 Olympics.
2014 Notes: Berger finished the season with 21 Web.com Tour starts, which included a T-2nd, two T-3rd and two T-7th results. His first Web.com Tour top-10 was a T-7th finish at the Brasil Champions. The following week, he shot consecutive 68s to open the Panama Claro Championship and finished T-3rd. Posted rounds of 71-67-74-68 for a T-3rd at the El Bosque Mexico Championship in April. In June, he qualified for the U.S. Open. Made a big impression Sunday when he fired a 66 at Pinehurst No. 2 to finish T-28th in his first U.S. Open appearance. The next month, he finished T-7th at the Albertsons Boise Open. Two weeks later, he entered the final round of the Stonebrae Classic one shot off the lead after a bogey-free, third-round 62. Berger eagled the third hole Sunday and eventually finished with a 68 for a T-2nd, three shots behind winner Tony Finau. He officially secured his 2015 PGA Tour card, his first, at the conclusion of the regular season in late August (15th on the money list). In three of his last four starts, he finished T-11th or better.
2014 Web.com Tour Summary: Tournaments Entered - 21; Rounds Played - 71; In Money - 15; Top-10 Finishes - 5; Scoring Average - 69.90 (Rank 24th); Money - $209,286 (Rank 15th); Best Finish, T-2nd, Stonebrae Classic.
2015 Notes: Recorded his first top-10 on the PGA Tour with a T-10th at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. Two weeks later, finished T-10th at the AT&T Pebble Beach. Two weeks after that, he was the leader in the clubhouse at the Honda Classic after a final-round 64. He watched the telecast and hit practice balls for nearly an hour before former Honda champion Padraig Harrington sank a 16-foot birdie putt at the 72nd hole to join him at 6-under and force a playoff. Following a pair of pars at the par-5 18th hole, the first extra hole, Berger's bid ended when his tee shot at the par-3 17th went into the water hazard. Also had a T-6th at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, along with a T-10th at the AT&T Byron Nelson. His second-place finish at the BMW Championship put him into the Tour Championship, where he finished T-12th. Ended the year 11th in the FedExCup race and 25th on the money list. Also earned PGA Tour Rookie of the Year honors.
2016 Notes: Converted a three-shot lead after 36 and 54 holes into a three-shot win at the FedEx St. Jude Classic, his first on the PGA Tour in his 50th start, at the age of 23 years, 2 months, 5 days. Other top-10s: T-5th at the Shell Houston Open; T-9th at The Players Championship and T-10th at the Masters. A strained left shoulder suffered at the U.S. Open forced him to withdraw from both the WGC-Bridgestone and British Open. He drew some controversy for hitting his opening tee shot at the Bridgestone, then withdrawing to collect a check for $50,500. He withdrew early from the British Open to rest his shoulder. Returned to play at the PGA Championship and was T-5th at the Travelers. Made it through to the Tour Championship, and finished 26th in the final FedExCup standings.
2017 Notes: In his second start of the year, finished runner-up at the WGC-HSBC Champions, seven shots behind winner Hideki Matsuyama. Also finished T-7th at the Waste Management Phoenix Open and 5th at the Shell Houston Open. Defended his title at the FedEx St. Jude Classic, shooting 66-66 over the weekend for a one-shot win over Charl Schwartzel and Whee Kim. After missing the cut at the U.S. Open, finished 2nd the next week at the Travelers Championship, where he lost a playoff to Jordan Spieth who holed out from a bunker for a birdie. Continued his good play with a T-5th at the John Deere Classic. Played in all four FedExCup Playoffs. His finish in that race was 16th. In his first appearance in the Presidents Cup, he went 2-1 at Liberty National to help lead the United States to a 19-11 victory. He was the youngest player and first rookie to clinch the winning point for the U.S. team.
2018 Notes: Played in 23 PGA Tour events making 18 cuts with one top-ten finish. Was 70th in the final FedExCup standings. Was T-6th at the U.S. Open, he entered the final round tied for the lead and playing in the final group but shot 73. The next week at the Travelers Championship he felt something in his index finger while hitting a shot. Despite the pain, he played in six more events, he did finish T-12th at the PGA Championship but after the Dell Technologies Championship, the pain was getting worst. Berger saw several doctors and one gave him injections to reduce the inflammation along with wearing a brace for a month. He was told that he needed total rest on the finger and he went two months without hitting a ball. In the time away from playing, Berger worked on his lower body with a personal trainer and went off on his boat for a lot of fishing. He started hitting balls again in November and realized he was stronger and in the best shape of his life.
2019 Notes: After taking four months off from competitive golf, his first event back was the Desert Classic and he was very pleased that he broke 70 all four rounds and finished T-12th. But his best finish came at Puerto Rico, he shot a final round 66 to climb up the leaderboard and finish T-2nd his best finish since his runner-up finish at the 2017 Travelers Championship.