Daniel Berger during the second round of the 2022 U.S. Open at The Country Club at Brookline. | Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images
Daniel Berger, who played for the victorious U.S. Ryder Cup team in 2021, is set to return to the PGA Tour after a lengthy absence.
Daniel Berger will be in the field at next week’s The American Express, the PGA Tour’s third event of the season, per Brentley Romine of the Golf Channel.
The American Express will mark Berger’s first start since the 2022 U.S. Open, where he missed the cut.
Since then, Berger has been troubled by a back injury that has kept him from playing professionally.
“That was the worst six months of my life,” Berger said to Doug Ferguson of The Associated Press in May 2023.
“I’ve had a pretty easy life. I play golf for a living—it’s not that stressful. But there was a point that I would have given up golf for the rest of my life not to feel like that.”
The former U.S. Ryder Cup star is now 30 years old but has not played in 18 months. But he has continually undergone rehab—so much so that he is now ready to return to the PGA Tour.
“That’s the tough part,” Berger told The Associated Press.
Photo by Darren Carroll/PGA of America
Daniel Berger hits a tee shot during the 2021 Ryder Cup.
“When I took time off, I was a top-20 player. I’ll be coming back with nothing. I get it. It’s part of the game. You’ve got to earn everything. When I come back, I’ll come back with fire in my belly. I’ll enjoy the challenge of getting back to where I was.”
Indeed, Berger was a budding star in American golf, as he helped Team USA dominate the Europeans at Whistling Straits.
In the months before the 2021 Ryder Cup, Berger tied for 7th at the U.S. Open and then finished in a tie for 8th at The Open Championship. He subsequently qualified for the 2021 Tour Championship, finishing in a tie for 11th in the final FedEx Cup standings.
But the following winter, a pain in his back developed.
Berger thought he could play through it.
“In retrospect, that was the wrong decision. I kept playing through it,” Berger added.
“It got to the point right around Augusta where I couldn’t sit down, I couldn’t do normal activities, I couldn’t play tennis. I need to see someone about it.”
This decision cost him 18 months in the prime of his career.
Now, he returns to the Coachella Valley for The American Express, where dozens of other young PGA Tour hopefuls will also tee it up.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
