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 anti-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…
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