BERGER LOOKING OUT FOR NO. 2
TPC Southwind suits St. Jude champ who’s still seeking 2nd win
During a lengthy rain delay in last year’s final round of the FedEx St. Jude Classic, Phil Mickelson gave the needle to Daniel Berger. Bad idea. Mickelson razzed Berger for winning PGA Tour rookie of the year honors in 2015 without winning a tournament. With Mickelson’s words ringing in his ears, Berger returned to TPC Southwind in Memphis after it stopped raining and stuck it to Lefty and everyone else in the field.
Playing in the final pairing for the first time, Berger made three birdies in a four-hole stretch on the back nine and won his first PGA Tour title by three shots over Mickelson, Brooks Koepka and Steve Stricker.
“It’s like a sigh of relief having a win, so now I can give it back to him,” Berger said Wednesday ahead of his title defense that starts Thursday. “Just need to keep doing what I’ve been doing, and hopefully maybe have not as many wins as he has, but I’ll have a few.”
Berger, 24, is No. 43 in the world rankings and looking for his second Tour title. Since leaving Memphis last year, he has five top-10s in 22 starts on the Tour. Not bad, but not what Berger was hoping for after his maiden victory.
“I’ve had a pretty good year so far,” he said. “Haven’t played exactly the way I wanted to, but I think as I’ve gotten better, my expectations have gotten higher. And I kind of just feel like every week I should have a chance to win, and that makes it tough. So I’ve kind of got to get into the same process that I’ve been doing the last couple years and just kind of maintain, and I feel great and I’m ready for the U.S. Open.”
While Mickelson likely won’t needle Berger about anything this week, Berger was inspired just driving to the course and seeing all the signage featuring him as the defending champion.
“It’s been awesome. You get a lot of great memories driving in,” he said. “I’ve got my own parking spot and all others will be towed, so don’t park in my parking spot.”
He has good vibes, too, about the course.
“I like everything about it. It just fits my eye,” he said. “The grass is the same grass I grew up on playing in South Florida, and the greens are perfect. So when you get perfect Bermuda and people are worried about grain, this is 15 years that I’ve putted on this stuff. So like these older other veterans, players that have played out here for many years, it feels like I’m more of a veteran out on these greens.”
Chip-in:
PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan has game.
“You know, he’s pretty good. He’s got good action. He rolls it well,” Rickie Fowler said after playing nine holes with Monahan in the pro-am.
Monahan, who took over as the head of the Tour on Jan. 1, has golf in his blood. His grandfather played in the 1947 U.S. Amateur. His father won the 1966 New England Collegiate Golf Association Championship and the 2001 New England Senior Amateur. Monahan played on the golf team at Trinity College in Connecticut. And he carried a 4.1 handicap.
“We had a good time out there,” said Fowler, who tied for second in last weekend’s Memorial. “I’ve definitely enjoyed the time over the last few years getting to know him. To finally get to tee it up with him, hopefully it’s not the last nine holes or round together. It’s nice to see that he understands golf and can play a little bit himself.”