Daniel Berger did what happens very rarely in the world of sports. The 31-year-old golfer was absent from the green for about two years. To put that into context, when Berger teed off for the last time before a hiatus, LIV Golf was still a nascent league whose future was very much under doubt. When he returned to greens, the PGA Tour had already announced an agreement with LIV and missed the deadline. Berger, himself, fell 500 steps down the OWGR ladder. All because a niggling back injury took away 19 months from his prime. Here is how that happened.

First signs of trouble for Daniel Berger

The 2021 Hero World Challenge marks an important point in Berger’s career. He was in pain while teeing off in the Tiger Woods-hosted tournament at Albany. The four-time PGA Tour winner ignored it initially. He tied for seventh. 

2022 began on a positive note as well. Even though the pain in his back refused to go away, Berger bagged a T5 at the Sentry Tournament of Champions. Then he went on to make another top-five finish at PGA National. That T4 at the Honda Classic came at a cost, though. Berger was pushing too far. 

No one loves sitting back when they are near their prime. Neither did Berger. Even though he was playing at his 50 percent. The Florida resident recounted, “That was essentially the start of when I started feeling the stuff in my back, and kind of the last half of the portion that I played in 2022 leading up to the U.S. Open where I stopped playing, I never felt great.”

A few months later, Berger had to accept the inevitable. He needed to pull the brakes. The missed cut at the US Open convinced him. “Mentally, I couldn’t accept being in pain every day.” Berger vanished from the scene after that. But did he foresee it would take this long? Not really. Not one did. 

Berger grappled with an uncertain future 

At that point, Daniel Berger had two options. The first was obviously surgery. The second was letting the body heal itself. Berger didn’t want to go down the first road. But six months passed, and barely anything changed. 

He was still in pain. Not just golf, but he had to stop beach volleyball, tennis, running, and regular workouts. Everything was painful. In his own words: “Sitting, standing, doing any type of daily chore sucks.” At his peak, Berger was in the top 12 in the world golf ranking. When he returned to the 2024 American Express, he was outside the top 600. Luke Donald, the European Ryder Cup captain, appeared as a savior. He suggested Stuart McGill’s name to Daniel Berger. 

The Canadian spinal specialist evaluated Berger’s case. Turned out he had developed a slight bulge in a lower disc and deep bone sensitivity. The conventional route to cure that is a microdiscectomy. Will Zalatoris went through a similar procedure. As did Tiger Woods a couple of times. Berger wanted to follow a different path. 

McGill prepared a recovery plan. He didn’t have to go under the knife. The only fallout was that it would require months of patience. Berger was willing to test himself. For ten months, he didn’t touch a club. Only rehab. 

“The crazy thing is the body finds a way to heal itself if you don’t mess it up, so that was the biggest key for me,” the 31-year-old said at this year’s Cognizant Classic. His recovery process was time-consuming. And even now, Berger has to follow a strict pre-round regimen to get in the groove. 

Daniel Berger has learned to endure

After ten months of sitting out, Berger was ‘allowed’ to hit the range. Only ten balls a day. That number increased, as did his time on the range, with each passing day or week. It took him another few months to be tour-ready. That phrase, ‘tour-ready’ is sort of deceptive. Berger wasn’t ready like everyone else. You know, wake up, brush your teeth, grab a coffee, hit the range. 

“There’s a lot more work that goes into it. I feel like there’s a different level of professionalism that I bring to it now than I did in years past,” Berger revealed. He needs to prepare his body for the day. And post-round, there is a rehab session as well. So, a regular 8 AM tee time means Berger’s day starts at 3.30-4 AM. 

That’s just one part of it. Daniel Berger changed his swing as well to put off the workload from his back. He roped in a new swing coach this year. It’s been a gradual progress. Berger missed 12 cuts this year from his 27 appearances. The T21 at the US Open was extra special because he made his US Open debut at Pinehurst in 2014. Berger also earned his way via the qualifier.

Moreover, since the solo seventh at the Sanderson Farms, the Jupiter resident has never failed to book a weekend spot. The culmination of that came with a T2 at the RSM Classic. Berger is ranked 100th in the FedEx Cup standing. His tour card for the next season is secure. The graph is going up for the four-time PGA Tour winner despite a two-year break.