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Daniel Berger (golfer)

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Daniel Berger
Personal information
Full nameDaniel F. Berger
Born (1993-04-07) April 7, 1993 (age 31)
Plantation, Florida, U.S.
Height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight175 lb (79 kg; 12.5 st)
Sporting nationality United States
ResidenceJupiter, Florida, U.S.
PartnerVictoria Slater
Career
CollegeFlorida State University
Turned professional2013
Current tour(s)PGA Tour
Former tour(s)Web.com Tour
Professional wins4
Highest ranking12 (October 4, 2020)[1]
(as of November 24, 2024)
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour4
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentT10: 2016
PGA ChampionshipT12: 2018
U.S. OpenT6: 2018
The Open ChampionshipT8: 2021
Achievements and awards
PGA Tour
Rookie of the Year		2014–15

Daniel F. 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. In February 2021, he won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am; clinching victory with an eagle on the 18th hole.

Early years

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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 grew up and lived in Key Biscayne, Florida for about thirteen years and began playing golf at age 10. He began taking lessons from PGA Master Professional, Kevin Perkins on a weekly basis and also attended Perkins' golf camp that summer and fell in love with the game. At that early age, Berger indicated to his father that he would like to become a professional golfer. Berger went on to have good success early, by finishing tie for 22nd in the US Kids International Championship, Boys, age 12, shooting rounds of 75, 79 and 75. Berger later moved with his family to Jupiter, Florida, where he also 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

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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]

Berger won the 2021 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am shooting a 65 in the final round. He eagled the final hole to win by two strokes ahead of Maverick McNealy.[21]

In September 2021, Berger played on the U.S. team in the 2021 Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wisconsin. The U.S. team won 19–9 and Berger went 2–1–0 including a win in his Sunday singles match against Matt Fitzpatrick.

Personal life

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Berger currently resides in Jupiter, Florida.

Amateur wins

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  • 2009 FCWT National Championship
  • 2010 Florida State Match Play Championship
  • 2013 Gator Invitational, Seminole Intercollegiate

Professional wins (4)

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PGA Tour wins (4)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory		 Runner(s)-up
1 Jun 12, 2016 FedEx St. Jude Classic 67-64-69-67=267 −13 3 strokes United States Brooks Koepka, United States Phil Mickelson,
United States Steve Stricker
2 Jun 11, 2017 FedEx St. Jude Classic (2) 70-68-66-66=270 −10 1 stroke South Korea Kim Meen-whee, South Africa Charl Schwartzel
3 Jun 14, 2020 Charles Schwab Challenge 65-67-67-66=265 −15 Playoff United States Collin Morikawa
4 Feb 14, 2021 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am 67-66-72-65=270 −18 2 strokes United States Maverick McNealy

PGA Tour playoff record (1–2)

No. Year Tournament Opponent Result
1 2015 The Honda Classic Republic of Ireland Pádraig Harrington Lost to par on second extra hole
2 2017 Travelers Championship United States Jordan Spieth Lost to birdie on first extra hole
3 2020 Charles Schwab Challenge United States Collin Morikawa Won with par on first extra hole

Results in major championships

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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 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Masters Tournament CUT T50
PGA Championship T71 T13 T75 CUT
U.S. Open T49 T34 T7 CUT T21
The Open Championship NT T8
  Top 10
  Did not play

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

Summary

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Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts made
Masters Tournament 0 0 0 0 1 1 5 4
PGA Championship 0 0 0 0 0 2 8 5
U.S. Open 0 0 0 0 2 3 9 7
The Open Championship 0 0 0 0 1 1 4 2
Totals 0 0 0 0 4 7 26 18
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 4 (twice)
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (2021 U.S. Open – 2021 Open Championship)

Results in The Players Championship

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Tournament 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
The Players Championship CUT T9 T65 T57 T67 C T9 T13
  Top 10

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
C = Canceled after the first round due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Results in World Golf Championships

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Tournament 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Championship T28 T16 T14 T35
Match Play T61 T39 T59 NT1 T18 T35
Invitational WD T17 T48 T2 T5
Champions T11 T2 T24 NT1 NT1 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
Note that the Championship and Invitational were discontinued from 2022.

U.S. national team appearances

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Amateur

Professional

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Week 40 2020 Ending 4 Oct 2020" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved October 5, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d 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. ^ a b c "Daniel Berger". PGA Tour. Retrieved July 14, 2017.
  5. ^ a b Coss, Matt (July 12, 2017). "No. 20 Berger quickly rising golf ranks". Quad-City Times.
  6. ^ a b c "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. ^ a b 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. Archived from the original on August 28, 2019. Retrieved August 28, 2019.
  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. ^ a b 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. ^ a b Ferguson, Doug (June 14, 2020). "Daniel Berger beats Collin Morikawa in sudden-death playoff at Colonial". CBC. Associated Press.
  21. ^ Jackson, Keith (January 15, 2021). "Daniel Berger eagles the last hole to seal two-shot victory at AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am". Sky Sports News. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
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