Despite a Tragic Two-Year Break, Daniel Berger Sets Up a Major Upset for Struggling Tiger Woods

It’s comeback time on the PGA Tour. Tiger Woods kicked it off after appearing in the Hero World Challenge last month. Gary Woodland soon followed after going through a brain surgery. Now, it’s time for Daniel Berger. The 30-year-old, however, has been absent from the greens for a whopping 18 months and yet is over 200 places ahead of the Big Cat in OWGR.

Like Woods, a harrowing back pain forced Berger out of the greens. Again, like the 15-time Major winner, the protracted hiatus had a staggering impact on Berger’s world ranking. But, despite the apparent similarities and stepping on the greens ahead of the youngster, Woods finds himself on the back foot.

Daniel Berger outshines Tiger Woods?

Berger missed the cut in his last outing at the 2022 U.S. Open. Last year, the 30-year-old signed up for the U.S. Open qualifier. However, he had to withdraw due to his back injury. Currently, the 30-year-old is ranked at 634 in the OWGR table. 

However, that’s still 249 places above Tiger Woods, ranked at 883. The former World No.1, notably, made a huge 430-place leap inside the top 1000 after finishing in the 18th spot at the Hero World Challenge. 

Woods, battered by injuries of his own, has played in five official events since Berger’s last outing, of which he withdrew from two and missed cuts in one. The 15-time Major winner’s best performance came in the 2023 Genesis Invitational, where he finished in the 45th position on the leaderboard.

On the other hand, Daniel Berger was ranked 25 when an injury threw a spanner in his global ranking aspirations. In fact, in the 2022 Sentry Tournament of Champions (now called the Sentry), the fourth-time PGA Tour player broke into the top 20. The Florida native will renew his World ranking bid in the American Express this year.

Why was Berger out of the greens for two years?

In an interview with AP last May, the 2020 Ryder Cup winner shared that a slight bulge in a lower disc had made day-to-day activities a hard grind. A simple task, such as sitting in his car, used to cause him pain.

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Following this, American International signed up for a rehab program planned by Stuart McGill. Daniel Berger, however, is not going to play in medical exemption thanks to his status as a tournament winner, which makes him exempt through 2024. Tiger Woods will likely play at the Genesis Invitational next month, as his latest tweet indicates.

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