Daniel Berger (golfer)

Daniel Berger (born April 7, 1993) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. After turning pro at age 20 in 2013, he won the FedEx St. Jude Classic in both 2016 and 2017 and the Charles Schwab Challenge in 2020, the first PGA Tour tournament played after a three-month hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Daniel Berger
Personal information
Born (1993-04-07) April 7, 1993
Plantation, Florida, U.S.
Height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight175 lb (79 kg; 12.5 st)
Nationality United States
ResidenceJupiter, Florida, U.S.
Career
CollegeFlorida State University
Turned professional2013
Current tour(s)PGA Tour
Former tour(s)Web.com Tour
Professional wins3
Highest ranking12 (October 4, 2020)[1]
(as of January 31, 2021)
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour3
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentT10: 2016
PGA ChampionshipT12: 2018
U.S. OpenT6: 2018
The Open ChampionshipT27: 2017
Achievements and awards
PGA Tour
Rookie of the Year		2015

Early years

Berger was born in Plantation, Florida, to Jewish parents,[2][3] Nadia and Jay Berger, a former tennis pro (ranked seventh in the world in 1990), coach, and head of men's tennis for the United States Tennis Association.[2] His grandmother, Roslyn Swift Berger, was an accomplished amateur golfer who was inducted into the Greater Buffalo, New York Sports Hall of Fame in 2000.[2] He has two brothers and a sister.[4]

Berger lived in Key Biscayne for about ten years before moving with his family to Jupiter, Florida, where he began taking golf seriously. He began to play golf at age 11 or 12, and had his first hole-in-one at age 13.[5][4] He graduated from William T. Dwyer High School in 2011, though he did not play high school golf.[4]

He played college golf at Florida State University in Tallahassee.[6] There, in the spring of 2013 he won both the SunTrust Gator Invitational and the Seminole Intercollegiate, and that season he led the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) with a 69.36 stroke average.[6][7] He tied for second at the 2013 NCAA Golf Championships as a sophomore, and was named a two-time first-team All-American by the Golf Coaches Association of America and Golfweek, and named to the All-Nicklaus team, All-ACC team, and PING All-Region team.[6] He turned pro after his sophomore year, at age 20.[8]

Professional career

In late 2013, Berger qualified for the Web.com Tour and played four events. The following year, he finished T2 at the TPC Stonebrae Championship[9] and ranked 15th in the season-long Web.com Tour standings, which earned him a promotion to the PGA Tour for the 2014–15 season.[8][10]

In March 2015, Berger shot a 6-under-par 64 in the final round of the Honda Classic to get into a sudden-death playoff,[11] which he lost to Pádraig Harrington. Had Berger won, it would have been the second-largest final round comeback in PGA Tour history; he began the final round nine strokes behind 54-hole leader Ian Poulter.[12] Three weeks later at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Berger made a double eagle at the par-5 sixth hole during the third round.[13]

During the 2015 season, Berger made the cut in 17 of 31 events, had six top-10 finishes, including two seconds, and was the only rookie to make the Tour Championship field in late September. He finished 11th in the FedEx Cup rankings, 25th on the money list (earning over $3 million), and was the PGA Tour Rookie of the Year.[14][15][16]

Berger gained his first PGA Tour win in June 2016 at the FedEx St. Jude Classic near Memphis, which moved him to 29th in the Official World Golf Ranking. He earned $1.1 million.[2]

At the beginning of the 2017 PGA Tour Season, Berger began using Callaway clubs and balls after switching over from TaylorMade, which he used in his first two seasons on tour. Later that season, Berger successfully defended his FedEx St. Jude Classic title, and moved to 24th in the world. By July, he was ranked 20th in the world.[5] He made the 2017 US Presidents Cup Team.[17]

At the 2018 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, Berger shot a third-round 66, putting him in a 4-way tie for the lead with Dustin Johnson, defending champion Brooks Koepka, and Tony Finau.[18] However, a final round 73 left Berger in a tie for 6th place, 5 shots behind eventual winner Koepka.

On June 14, 2020, Berger won the 2020 Charles Schwab Challenge, and received a winner's check of $1.375 million.[19] This was the first PGA Tour tournament back after a three-month hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Berger won the tournament when Collin Morikawa missed a very short putt for par on the first playoff hole.[20] With the victory he was ranked No. 31 in the world.[20] He had a streak of 32 consecutive rounds at par or better in 2019–20, the eighth-longest streak since 1983, one round fewer than the streaks of Kenny Perry and Harris English.[17]

Personal life

Berger currently resides in Jupiter, Florida, and is also a member at Shelter Harbor Golf Club in Rhode Island.

Amateur wins (4)
  • 2009 FCWT National Championship
  • 2010 Florida State Match Play Championship
  • 2013 Gator Invitational, Seminole Intercollegiate

Professional wins (3)

PGA Tour wins (3)
No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin of
victory		Runner(s)-up
1 Jun 12, 2016 FedEx St. Jude Classic 67-64-69-67=267 −13 3 strokes Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson,
Steve Stricker
2 Jun 11, 2017 FedEx St. Jude Classic (2) 70-68-66-66=270 −10 1 stroke Kim Meen-whee, Charl Schwartzel
3 Jun 14, 2020 Charles Schwab Challenge 65-67-67-66=265 −15 Playoff Collin Morikawa

PGA Tour playoff record (1–2)

No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
1 2015 The Honda Classic Pádraig Harrington Lost to par on second extra hole
2 2017 Travelers Championship Jordan Spieth Lost to birdie on first extra hole
3 2020 Charles Schwab Challenge Collin Morikawa Won with par on first extra hole

Results in major championships

Results not in chronological order in 2020.

Tournament 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Masters Tournament T10 T27 T32
U.S. Open T28 T37 CUT T6
The Open Championship CUT T27 CUT
PGA Championship CUT T73 CUT T12
Tournament 20192020
Masters Tournament
PGA Championship T71 T13
U.S. Open T49 T34
The Open Championship NT
  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
NT = No tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic

Summary
TournamentWins2nd3rdTop-5Top-10Top-25EventsCuts made
Masters Tournament00001133
PGA Championship00000264
U.S. Open00001165
The Open Championship00000031
Totals0000241813
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 4 (2016 Masters – 2017 Masters)
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (twice)

Results in The Players Championship
Tournament 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
The Players Championship CUT T9 T65 T57 T67
  Top 10

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Results in World Golf Championships
Tournament201520162017201820192020
Championship T28 T16 T14
Match Play T61 T39 T59 NT1
Invitational WD T17 T48 T2
Champions T11 T2 T24 NT1

1Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic

  Top 10
  Did not play

QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
WD = Withdrew
NT = No tournament
"T" = Tied

U.S. national team appearances

Amateur

Professional

See also

References
  1. "Week 40 2020 Ending 4 Oct 2020" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved October 5, 2020.
  2. Glassman, Marvin (July 19, 2016). "Berger first Jew in 12 years to win PGA golf championship". The Canadian Jewish News.
  3. "Alcott, Fleisher, Pressel: Don't Pass Over Jewish Golfers". Golf.com.
  4. "Daniel Berger". PGA Tour. Retrieved July 14, 2017.
  5. Coss, Matt (July 12, 2017). "No. 20 Berger quickly rising golf ranks". Quad-City Times.
  6. "Daniel Berger Bio". Florida State Seminoles. Retrieved July 14, 2017.
  7. "Berger and Seminoles Win Gator Invitational". Florida State Seminoles. February 10, 2013. Retrieved July 14, 2017.
  8. Waters, Steve (February 24, 2015). "Berger's golf plan working perfectly". Sun-Sentinel. Retrieved March 2, 2015.
  9. "Tony Finau shoots 66 en route to win". ESPN. Associated Press. August 3, 2014. Retrieved March 2, 2015.
  10. Nichols, Beth Ann (February 25, 2015). "Daniel Berger joins succession of Seminoles on Tour". Golfweek. Retrieved March 2, 2015.
  11. "6 South Florida-Bred Golfers Who Will Be Playing In February's Honda Classic At PGA National". Palm Beacher Magazine. Retrieved 2019-08-28.
  12. Waters, Steve (March 2, 2015). "Padraig Harrington of Ireland wins his second Honda Classic in a playoff". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 22, 2015.
  13. Crouse, Karen (March 21, 2015). "Double Eagle Bolsters Daniel Berger, a Rookie, at Bay Hill". The New York Times. Retrieved March 22, 2015.
  14. "Spieth named PGA Tour Player of the Year: Daniel Berger is selected as the Tour's top rookie". PGA Tour. October 2, 2015.
  15. "Daniel Berger – Statistics". PGA Tour. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
  16. Waters, Steve (February 24, 2016). "For Daniel Berger, PGA National is like a happy homecoming". PGA of America.
  17. Ray, Justin (June 23, 2020). "Beat the streak: Berger just keeps breaking par". PGA Tour.
  18. "'Be careful what you wish for': A wild third round at Shinnecock Hills saw high tempers and higher scores". Golf.com. June 16, 2018.
  19. Jenkins, Scott (July 7, 2020). "Golfer Jon Rahm Explains the Funniest Side Effect of Golf's Return Without Fans".
  20. Ferguson, Doug (June 14, 2020). "Daniel Berger beats Collin Morikawa in sudden-death playoff at Colonial". CBC. Associated Press.
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