LA JOLLA, CALIFORNIA | At the end of a practice round late Tuesday afternoon, Daniel Berger watched a 30-foot eagle putt tumble into the hole on the 18th green at Torrey Pines South and looked at his buddy Rickie Fowler with a “you owe me money” smile.
The eagle was worth enough to buy a nice dinner but what really mattered was Berger’s presence at the Genesis Invitational, the first PGA Tour signature event for the 31-year-old who was part of the United States’ rollicking Ryder Cup victory at Whistling Straits in 2021.
It wasn’t that long ago that Berger was an integral part of a group of players who figured to frame the PGA Tour story, alongside Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas and Fowler, among others.
Only it didn’t happen that way.
Berger missed more than 18 months on tour due to a back injury that was originally misdiagnosed nearly three years ago and, once the proper course of action for the bulging disc was determined, the game was racing on without Berger.
Ranked as high as 12th in the world, Berger tumbled to 658th after sitting idle for so long before beginning the long climb back.
“From the time I took a break from golf, I was in a really fantastic position, world rankings wise and in my career. I had no protection,” Berger said.
“I came back a year and a half later and the whole golf world had changed with LIV Golf and elevated events. There was nothing done for me, not that I was looking for anything. Just the whole landscape changed.”
Berger watched as others teed it up in $20 million, no-cut signature events while he played tour events he had never played before, all to rebuild his game and his playing status. It was, to use Berger’s words, a reality check and a source of motivation.
Playing and beating some of the tour’s best players in practice rounds at home in south Florida was good but it wasn’t as good as playing with more on the line.
A T2 finish at the season-ending RSM Classic late last year bumped him to 100th on the FedEx Cup points list, giving him full tour privileges this year after starting that final week outside the top 125.
“I needed it because I would have had even worse status,” Berger said.
“I had a three-year exemption when I left and I missed a year and a half and I couldn’t take a major medical (extension) because I had a multi-year exemption so I basically gave up my status and got nothing for it.”
“I love competition. I love to come out and feel I can play against anybody in the world. That being taken away from you is the toughest part. Once you get back into it, you realize how much you enjoy it, how much you love it.” – Daniel Berger
Having won at Pebble Beach in ’21, his fourth tour victory, Berger twice asked for a sponsor exemption into the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and was rejected. Berger used it as emotional fuel and when he locked down a spot at the relocated Genesis Invitational through the tour’s Aon Swing 5 rankings (boosted by a T2 finish at the WM Phoenix Open last week), it was another step in the process.
“I love competition. I love to come out and feel I can play against anybody in the world. That being taken away from you is the toughest part. Once you get back into it, you realize how much you enjoy it, how much you love it,” Berger said.
Before Berger could get well, he had to figure out what was wrong. Eventually, it was determined that Berger had a small bulging disc, so small that imaging didn’t immediately reveal it but the symptoms Berger felt did.
The strain on Berger’s lower back created by his swing led to the injury.
“It was going to happen. I don’t blame anybody. I blamed myself for a long time but you come to a point where you realize with what I was doing, it was going to happen,” Berger said.
The issue did not require surgery but it demanded a specific exercise program and an abundance of patience. One more example of trusting the process and the old adage that no one regrets coming back from injury too late.
“My trainer had a really good saying for me. It was ‘one day too late, you miss a day, one day too early sets you back six months.’ I really stuck with that philosophy and it really paid dividends. You do one (bad) movement in the gym a day too early, you set yourself way back,” Berger said.
“Thankfully for me, there was no surgery. I had great perspective. I love this game. I love competing. I love waking up every day with a purpose and feeling like I have an opportunity to get better. When that’s taken away from you, that’s the toughest part.”
“You have to just put your head down, figure it out and go to work and trust what you’re doing are the right things …” – Daniel Berger
When Berger was cleared to play again, his clubhead speed with a driver had dipped to 108 mph, well short of tour-level speed. It’s back over 120 mph and Berger can play power golf again.
He has cleared both the physical and mental hurdles that come with injury, especially for a golfer dealing with back problems.
Even as a drizzly rain dripped down on Torrey Pines Thursday and the low clouds shrouded the view of the Pacific Ocean from the cliffsides, Berger didn’t want to be anyplace else.
“Just as a competitor, I want to play against the best players in the world, and it sucks when that’s taken away from you,” Berger said.
“You have to just put your head down, figure it out and go to work and trust what you’re doing are the right things and that you are getting better. … I’m just grateful and lucky to feel like I do but I put a lot of work in. It’s what I love to do.”