PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — For Daniel Berger, the worst part was the sitting around. Not able to do the things he loves. And we’re not just talking golf.
Beach volleyball. Tennis. Pickleball. Running. Fishing.
Especially fishing.
“I could go fishing for 12 hours on the boat in five-foot seas and feel like a million bucks,” he said.
Instead, Berger’s days were spent on an ante gravity chair watching television and gazing at his trophy case for inspiration.
“I’m an active person and don’t like to sit around a lot,” Berger said Tuesday after a practice round at PGA National in preparation for this week’s Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches. “That was the toughest part, sitting around and literally doing nothing for eight months before I got back to being a little bit more like myself and feeling comfortable walking.”
Those trophies, for a man who has won four times on the PGA Tour and was a two-time first-team All-American at Florida State, were his incentive.
“I would sit in my office and look at them and just think back and try to visualize the moments of the shots that I hit coming down the stretch, and knowing that as far away as you feel from that, you’re not as far as you think you are,” he said.
Long break because of bad back
Berger went 19 months between playing a PGA Tour event. Back issues, of which he says “it’s hard to be specific because there’s always different factors that can cause you pain,” had him sidelined for the second half of 2022 and all of 2023.
Few look at Cognizant as a must-play like Berger. While several of his peers found any and all excuses to duck the challenging Champion Course, Berger took it on full steam. The closest he’s come to winning was when he lost to Padraig Harrington in 2015 in a playoff and surrendered a five-shot lead on the final day of the 2022 tournament.
Berger’s issues started about two years ago when he was unable to defend his title at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am, withdrawing the day before the event started because of his back. He tested the back a week later and decided to play the then-Honda Classic. He thrived with a pair of 65s and a 69 before that final round 74 dropped him to fourth, three shots behind champion Sepp Straka.
Four months later, after missing the cut at the U.S. Open, Berger decided he no longer would chase “the quick fix,” and went the other way. It was time to allow his body to heal, no matter how long.
“I didn’t want to be one of those guys that came back too early and was hurt three months later,” he said. “I wanted to feel 100 percent and be able to do everything I wanted to do, and that’s where I feel now.”
At his peak, Berger was among the top 15 players in the world and a member of the winning 2021 U.S. Ryder Cup team, where he and Justin Thomas went viral for shot-gunning beers on the first tee box. Two years ago, he was No. 17 in the world. He enters the Cognizant at No. 590.
Berger says he’s 100 percent, but that comeback was delayed when a leisurely bike ride with his dog resulted in a torn labrum in his right shoulder. Berger had to swerve to avoid the dog and took a tumble. He had planned to play in a few events on the fall schedule.
The silver lining: Berger now could not rush his return from his back injury, even if he wanted.
The dark cloud: Another prolonged period unable to swing a club.
“I was in pain all the time and then I got to a point where I was just like, ‘this is just not worth playing,’” said Berger, who turned 30 during his break. “My everyday life sucks, and I’m just struggling to play a golf tournament.
“You can’t win a golf tournament when you can only do 25 percent of what you’re used to doing. That’s where I really made the decision to step back.”
Berger said he was not 100 percent at the American Express last month, where he shot four sub-70 rounds and tied for 39th with a 17-under 271. He missed the cut at the Farmers before playing in a Phoenix Open marred by rain and unruly crowds.
Berger’s pre-golf routine looks a lot different now
Berger’s routine has changed. Instead of rolling out of bed and heading straight to the range, it’s now about maintenance and the process.
Berger, who tees off at 12:29 p.m. Thursday in a group that includes Russell Henley and Tequesta’s Eric Cole, now is more measured in that process.
“There’s a lot more work that goes into it,” he said, calling it a different level of “professionalism.”
“I think you see the guys that have been out here for a long time, those are the guys that are doing those things … guys putting in the work so they can feel good and be ready to go. And I feel like that’s part of it for me, and it wasn’t so years ago.”