It was not to be and Berger wins and will advance his position in the world ranking to 29th having been 280th when leaving the Web.Com Tour twenty months ago.
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Bernhard Langer sank a 12-foot par putt at the final hole to record a one-stroke victory at the Senior Players Championship in Philadelphia.
Daniel Berger won the FedEx St. Jude Classic Sunday for his first PGA Tour title, shooting a 3-under-par 67 to hold off Phil Mickelson, Steve Stricker, and Brooks Koepka by three strokes.
He’s driving the ball down the middle of the fairway and has his putter working very well as he heads to Oakmont.
“I played so well the last six, seven weeks, it was just a matter of time before I had a real shot at winning and I feel like those experiences past year really helped me to get to where I am right now”. Only 11 have ever won a major after winning on tour, and Rory McIlroy was the last when he won the PGA Championship the week after taking the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in 2014.
“It means the world to me and it was just amusing because we were sitting in the lunch room today during the rain delay and Phil was giving me crap – he was wondering if in the history of the Rookie of the Year Award had [anyone] won without winning a tournament”.
Berger picked up a cheque for $1.1 million in his 50th career start.
Mickelson had closed to within a stroke of Berger but he responded with birdies on the 12th, 14th and 15th holes that pushed him beyond the reach of the 42-time Tour victor.
“When I had that close call at the Honda 14 events into my PGA TOUR career, you start to think about that a lot”, Berger said in reference to his loss previous year. Mickelson and Stricker shot 67, and Koepka had a 66.
Dustin Johnson shot a 63 on Sunday, the best round of the tournament, to finish in fifth.
The thunderstorms slowed down the confident Berger, and only for a hole. He rolled in a 22-foot birdie putt on No. 15 to regain a three-shot margin.
Stricker said he hasn’t decided yet if he will actually play in the event, but he’s never won a major and he said you can’t win one if you don’t play.
Berger had already finished second twice, with a total of nine top 10s in his young career. Then after a series of pars, he turned in four-under.
He birdied Nos. 6 and 11 to make the turn at 11 under. He calmly drained an 18-foot birdie putt at the par-4 sixth to build a two-stroke lead over Koepka – who fell back with a bogey on No. 8 – and a fast-closing Johnson.
Mickelson openly complimented Berger’s game on the back nine as he made his way to the title.
After Mickelson got himself to within a shot his putting let him down as he missed birdie opportunities on the 13th and 14th holes.
3 – Although it’s the U.S. Open next week, The Open Championship was on some players’ minds at TPC Southwind. “I’m excited to take the momentum that I built here in Memphis on a golf course I really enjoy and take it over to Oakmont and see if I can capture my first Open”.
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But on the back nine, he double bogeyed the 10th and the 16th and finished bogey-bogey on 17th and 18th. “I’m looking forward to next week”.
