After a recent injury, Daniel Berger is finally seeing positive ‘results’.
For Daniel Berger, it’s good to be home.
Last year during the Florida Swing, Berger finished T25, T15 and T20 in his three starts in The Sunshine State. And after tying for 32nd in a respectable showing at the Cognizant Classic last week, he’s off to another (even better) start this week, as he lit up Bay Hill Club & Lodge in a nine-under 63 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational on Thursday, poised to take a three-way lead after Day 1.
Florida kid and Florida resident’s secret? It’s easy.
“I’ll drive my own car here, sleep in my own bed for the last week,” said Berger, who lives two hours down the road in the Jupiter, Fla., area. “This is a place I’ve played many times. It’s been years since I’ve skipped a few of those West Coast Swing events, and this year being at the top events you don’t have that opportunity. So yeah, it’s great to be in Florida. I love it.”
He also likes the fact that he doesn’t get hurt.
Berger hurt his right ring finger at the BMW Championship in August (with one swing at the 14th hole, though he’s not sure what happened) and thought it would get better on its own. It didn’t—not that day, or the next. He withdrew, and the broken finger was cast for two months. He went almost three months without swinging a club and didn’t return until the RSM Classic in late November, where he tied for 51st.
“Just one of those things, like the finger I broke and where I broke it actually ended up hurting my back more than I thought it would,” Lwesine said. “I thought it was going to be four, five weeks and it was going to be three months.”
It was a sad way to end what was a strong bounce-back season. After missing 2023 with a back injury, Berger struggled to find his form when he returned to the course and finished 140th at the FedEx Cup in 2024. Last year, it started to come together, as he made 18 of 22 cuts and had strong showings at the WM Phoenix Open (T2) and the RBC Heritage to complete his top PGA and PGA card (T3)
He opened 2026 with a T6 in Hawaii and has missed just one cut, at the Genesis Invitational, so far this season.
“When you come back, you just get back on track and get into your routine,” he said. “I haven’t played that bad, I haven’t had the results yet. So keep doing the same things and good things will happen.”
On Thursday, Berger never made a bogey and was six under on the back nine. His 63 was also a single tournament record, recorded four times. He led the field in Strokes Gained: Tee to Green (5.088) and was second in putting (3.718).
He begins his second round at 11:55 a.m. ET on Friday alongside Alex Noren. You know you have 54 holes left.
“It’s going to be an incredibly difficult and incredibly challenging week,” he said. “The green is like the white. So less wind, less humidity, and it’s going to be like the US Open. I think when you come to Bay Hill to play this event you know what you’re getting, so it doesn’t scare me. You’re ready for it.”
