With back feeling better, Daniel Berger shoots 67 at Memorial
DUBLIN, Ohio — In hindsight, Daniel Berger would have given his ailing back more time. But the Jupiter resident was determined to play in his hometown tournament in February, and in several events that followed.
Lower back issues that limited Berger early this year never really went away, and most of the year has been a struggle.
"It's been a long two months," Berger said. "I haven't played that much golf. It's nice to get back and get a couple rounds under my belt and get going in a positive direction."
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Berger put himself in contention at the Memorial Tournament Saturday with a 5-under 67, putting him six shots behind Billy Horschel. Berger's round included six birdies (five on the front nine) and a bogey. He posted the second-best score of the day behind Horschel's 65.
"I made a lot of putts on the front nine," said Berger, who is first in the field in strokes gained putting. "And then had a bunch of really good looks on the back nine and hit some good putts that didn't go in."
Berger was unable to defend his title at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am in early February, withdrawing the day before the event started. He tested the back a week later at the Phoenix Open and despite missing the cut declared himself ready for his hometown tournament, the Honda Classic. Berger is a Dwyer High graduate.
He finished fourth at Honda and two weeks later tied for 13th at The Players. Still, his back issues lingered and he has not cracked the top 20 since. Berger's world ranking has slipped from No. 16 in early February to No. 29.
"I don't get to practice so that's a tough part when you don't get to practice and then you show up to a tournament," said Berger, who said he shouldn't have played as much as he did during the spring.
Berger finally took off a month between RBC Heritage and PGA Championship and it showed. He missed the cut at the PGA two weeks ago, shooting 13-over, including an 80 on Friday.
Finally, he is seeing some progress. Berger finished T23 last weekend at the Charles Schwab and his 67 Saturday equals his best round in the past three months.
"Definitely trending in the right direction," he said.
Tom D'Angelo is a journalist at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at tdangelo@pbpost.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Daniel Berger has been dealing with lower back issues most of the year
