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 spent time around a lot of PGA Tour players growing up. 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 Korn Ferry 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 Korn Ferry Tour events, missed the cut in three of them, and finished T-47th at the Price Cutter Charity. He made it through the Korn Ferry Tour qualifying tournament with a third-round 63 that helped him to a T-32 finish, securing his status for 2014.
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 was the U.S. Tennis Association's player development head of men's tennis from 2008 to 2017. He was the United States head coach at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics.
2014 Notes: Berger finished the season with 21 Korn Ferry Tour starts, which included a T-2nd, two T-3rd, and two T-7th results. His first Korn Ferry 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 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 Korn Ferry 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 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 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 before the start of 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. He continued his good play with a T-5th at the John Deere Classic. Played in all four FedExCup playoff events. 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 worse. 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: Played in 20 PGA Tour events making 15 cuts with one top-ten finish. 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 in all four rounds and finished T-12th. His best finish came in Puerto Rico. He shot a final-round 66 to climb up the leader board and finish T-2nd, his best finish since his runner-up finish at the 2017 Travelers Championship. He finished 131st in the FedExCup standings, it was the first time in his career he missed the FedExCup Playoffs.
2020 Notes: Played in 17 PGA Tour events making 15 cuts with seven top-ten finishes. Was 15th in the FedExCup standings. Got rolling with a T-9th at the Waste Management Phoneix Open, then T-5th at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, and T-4th in his last start before the break at the Honda Classic. Won the Charles Schwab Challenge beating Collin Morikawa in a one-hole playoff. His next start was T-3rd at the RBC Heritage, two shots back of winner Webb Simpson. Missed the cut at The Memorial and with his first-round 73, broke a streak of 32 straight rounds of par or under. Was T-2nd at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, three shots back of winner Justin Thomas. Was T-13th at the PGA Championship. In the FedExCup playoffs, was 3rd at the Northern Trust, 12 shots back of winner Dustin Johnson. Was T-25th at the BMW Championship and T-15th at the Tour Championship. After the canceled Players Championship was 45th in the FedExCup standings and 107th in the Official World Golf Ranking. In his return after the break, was able to end the season not only 15th in the FedExCup but was 13th in the Official World Golf Ranking. Another key to his season was playing it injury-free.
2021 Notes: Played in 23 PGA Tour events making 21 cuts with eight top-ten finishes. Was T-11th in the FedExCup standings. Started the season finishing T-34th at the U.S. Open in September. Despite his good play in 2020, it came after the eligibility of the Masters closed so he had the best record in golf he didn't play in the November Masters. At the Sentry Tournament of Champions was three shots back going into the final round but shot 72 and finished 10th, six shots back of the playoff. The next week was T-7th at the Sony Open in Hawaii, three shots back of winner Kevin Na. At the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am made a 30-foot eagle putt at the 72nd hole to win by two shots over Maverick McNealy. Closed with a final-round 67 to finish T-9th at the Players Championship, six back of winner Justin Thomas. Unfortunately, Berger played the week with pain in his ribs, which he had the week before. He tried to play in the Honda Classic but the pain caused him to withdraw before the event. Was able to play in the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play and didn't make it out of group play, losing a playoff to Erik Van Rooyen. With a final-round 64 was able to finish T-3rd at the AT&T Byron Nelson, finishing four shots back of winner K.H. Lee. Shot 68 in the final round to finish T-7th at the U.S. Open. Was T-8th at the British Open and T-5th at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, two shots back of the Ancer/Burns/Matsuyama playoff. In the FedExCup playoffs was T-56th at the Northern Trust, T-26th at the BMW Championship, and T-11th at the Tour Championship. Selected as a captain's pick in his first Ryder Cup and finished with a 2-1-0 record for the week. Won his singles match against Matt Fitzpatrick 1-up. Emotionally and physically drained, he took off the rest of 2021 except for an appearance in the Bahamas in December. finishing T-7th at the Hero World Challenge, five shots back of winner Viktor Hovland.
2022 Notes: Played in 12 PGA Tour events making 9 cuts with three top-ten finishes. Was 91st in the FedExCup standings. When he showed up for the Sentry Tournament of Champions, something didn?t feel right with his back. Despite the pain was able to hot 25 under par to finish T-5th at the Sentry T of C. His back felt just as bad at the Farmers were he finished T-20th and then had to withdrew from his title defense at Pebble Beach and missed the cut in Phoenix. Was the second and third-round leader at the Honda Classic, shot 74 in the final round to lose a five shot third round lead, and finished 4th, three shots back of winner Sepp Straka. But the pain was still there when he finished T-13th at the Players, T-35th at the WGC Dell Match play, T-50th at the Masters and T-21th at Heritage. At the same time the pain got worst where he couldn't sit or do any of his normal activities. He got a MRI and that came back clean, but the pain still lingered. The pain wa still around when he finished T-5th at the Memorial, seven shots back of winner Billy Horschel. Shot 70-75 at the U.S. Open to miss the cut. That was his last tournament. He's still not sure when his next one will be. Pain in his lower back, which first surfaced after a long post-Ryder Cup break in 2021, reached a point where he needed ice baths before he could play. It hurt just to sit in the car on the way to the course. Despite stepping away from golf, the pain got worst. He spent close to six months resting and rehabilitation and even though all doctors could find wa a slight bulge in a lower disc and deep bone seensitivity. Even with the rest,, the pain still lingered. In talking with Luke Donald about the problem, Donald suggested he read a book by Stuart McGill, who was a Canadian profesor at the University of Waterlook who specialized in biomechanics of the spine. Berger met with McGill on Christmas eve and gave him a two-hour evaluation and then set up a program for him to follow.