Daniel F. Berger (born April 7, 1993) is an American

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

who plays on the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...

. 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 The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

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

Early life

Berger was born in Plantation, Florida, to Jewish parents, 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 The United States Tennis Association (USTA) is the national governing body for tennis in the United States. A not-for-profit organization with more than 700,000 members, it invests 100% of its proceeds to promote and develop the growth of tenn ...

. 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. He has two brothers and a sister. Berger grew up and lived in

Key Biscayne Key Biscayne () is an island located in Miami-Dade County, Florida, located between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay. It is the southernmost of the barrier islands along the Atlantic coast of Florida, and lies south of Miami Beach and sout ...

, 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 Jupiter is the northernmost town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. According to the 2020 US Census, the town had a population of 61,047. It is 84 miles north of Miami and 15 miles north of West Palm Beach, Florida, West Palm Beach. ...

, where he also had his first hole-in-one at age 13. He graduated from William T. Dwyer High School in 2011, though he did not play high school golf.

Amateur career

Berger played college golf at

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

in Tallahassee. 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 The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

(ACC) with a 69.36 stroke average. He tied for second at the 2013 NCAA Golf Championships as a sophomore, and was named a two-time first-team

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

by the Golf Coaches Association of America and '' Golfweek'', and named to the All-Nicklaus team, All-ACC team, and PING All-Region team. He turned pro after his sophomore year, at age 20.

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 and ranked 15th in the season-long Web.com Tour standings, which earned him a promotion to the

for the 2014–15 season. In March

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

, Berger shot a 6-under-par 64 in the final round of the Honda Classic to get into a sudden-death playoff, which he lost to

Pádraig Harrington Pádraig Peter Harrington (born 31 August 1971) is an Irish professional golfer who plays on the European Tour, PGA Tour and the PGA Tour Champions. He has won three men's major golf championships, major championships: The Open Championship in 2 ...

. Had Berger won, it would have been the second-largest final round comeback in

history; he began the final round nine strokes behind 54-hole leader

Ian Poulter Ian James Poulter (born 10 January 1976) is an English professional golfer who plays in the LIV Golf League. He has previously been ranked as high as number 5 in the world rankings. The highlights of Poulter's career to date have been his two ...

. Three weeks later at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Berger made a double eagle at the par-5 sixth hole during the third round. 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 The Tour Championship (stylized as the TOUR Championship) is a golf tournament that is part of the PGA Tour. It has historically been one of the final events of the PGA Tour season; prior to 2007, its field consisted exclusively of the top 30 ...

field in late September. He finished 11th in the

FedEx Cup The FedEx Cup is the championship trophy for the PGA Tour. Its introduction in 2007 marked the first time that men's professional golf had a playoff system. Since its inception, the competition has been sponsored by FedEx. In 2022, the PGA Tour ...

rankings, 25th on the money list (earning over $3 million), and was the PGA Tour Rookie of the Year. Berger gained his first PGA Tour win in June

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

at the FedEx St. Jude Classic near Memphis, which moved him to 29th in the

Official World Golf Ranking The Official World Golf Ranking is a system for rating the performance level of professional golfers. It was started in 1986. The rankings are based on a player's position in individual tournaments (i.e. not pairs or team events) over a "rolling ...

. He earned $1.1 million. At the beginning of the

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

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. He made the 2017 US

Presidents Cup The Presidents Cup is a series of men's golf matches between a team representing the United States and an International Team representing the rest of the world except Europe as that continent competes against the United States in a similar but ...

Team. 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 Dustin Hunter Johnson (born June 22, 1984) is an American professional golfer. He has won two Men's major golf championships, major championships, the 2016 U.S. Open (golf), 2016 U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club with a 4-under-par score of 276 ...

, defending champion Brooks Koepka, and Tony Finau. 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. This was the first PGA Tour tournament back after a three-month hiatus due to the

. Berger won the tournament when Collin Morikawa missed a very short putt for par on the first playoff hole. With the victory he was ranked No. 31 in the world. 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 James Kenneth Perry (born August 10, 1960) is an American professional golfer who currently plays on the PGA Tour Champions. He won 14 PGA Tour events and has won nine PGA Tour Champions events including four senior major championships: the 2 ...

and Harris English. 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. In September 2021, Berger played on the U.S. team in the 2021 Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits in

Kohler, Wisconsin Kohler is a village in Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, United States, along the Sheboygan River. The population was 2,195 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is included in the Sheboygan, Wisconsin, Sheboygan metropolitan statistical ...

. 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

Berger currently resides in

Amateur wins

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

Professional wins (4)

PGA Tour wins (4)

PGA Tour playoff record (1–2)

Results in major championships

''Results not in chronological order in 2020.'' CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
NT = no tournament due to

Summary

*Most consecutive cuts made – 4 (three times, current) *Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (2021 U.S. Open – 2021 Open Championship)

Results in The Players Championship

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

Results in World Golf Championships

¹Cancelled due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

pandemic
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

Amateur *

Palmer Cup The Palmer Cup is a 1200–1215 CE goblet from northern Syria or Jazira region, Jazira, and an example of early Islamic glass. It is sometimes described as "Ayyubid", since it corresponds to the time when the Ayyubids disputed control of areas of ...

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

(winners) Professional *

(winners) *

Ryder Cup The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States, with hosting duties alternating between venues in Europe and the United States for each edition. The cup is named after the English businessman S ...

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

(winners)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Berger, Daniel American male golfers Florida State Seminoles men's golfers PGA Tour golfers Ryder Cup competitors for the United States Presidents Cup competitors for the United States Korn Ferry Tour graduates Jewish American golfers Golfers from Miami Jews from Florida Sportspeople from Plantation, Florida Golfers from Jupiter, Florida 1993 births Living people 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American sportsmen