On the PGA Tour
Daniel Berger’s back-to-back win
n the fi nal round of the 2017
FedEx St. Jude Classic, Daniel
Berger made his way through
the bunched leaderboard posting
second-straight 66 in route to
his second PGA TOUR title.
The fi rst few shots of Daniel Berger’s
fi nal round didn’t give much clue that his
second straight victory at the FedEx St.
Jude Classic was only a few hours away.
He hit his drive on No. 1 into the rough,
sent his next shot into the rough far past
the hole and his third shot was a chip that
didn’t even make it to the green. What
was left was an awkward 25-foot chip to
save par. And from that point on, Berger
put together a stellar day on a fi rm, fast,
challenging course at TPC Southwind,
shooting a 4-under 66 to erase a three-
shot defi cit and beat South African Charl
Schwartzel and South Korean Whee Kim
by one stroke.
Now he just might be one of the young
players to say the U.S. Open at Erin Hills
in Wisconsin. “We hear a lot about the
young guns and about the Justin Thomases
and Jordan Spieths, but I feel like I kind of
get forgotten a little bit,” Berger said.
“I’m pretty good, so I’m just going to
try and keep doing my thing and see if I
can’t get a few more.” Berger is the fourth
back-to-back winner at St. Jude and the fi rst
since David Toms did it in 2003 and ‘04.
He played a bogey-free round on Sunday,
usually avoiding trouble after the fi rst hole.
His 17-foot birdie putt on No. 15 put
him ahead for good and he fi nished at
10-under 270.
“I played really great through the fi rst
couple days but I didn’t make as many
putts,” Berger said. “Then the last couple
days they just started to fall and that was
the big difference.”
Schwartzel shot a 66 and Kim shot a
67 to fi nish in second. Amateur Braden
Thornberry and Billy Horschel were among
fi ve players two shots back. Schwartzel
played well for most of the tournament,
but a 4-over 74 in the third round made for
a steep hill to climb on Sunday. He nearly
made it, but a long putt on No. 17 stopped
just short of the birdie he needed to pull
even with Berger. Stewart Cink, Ben Crane
and Rafa Cabrera Bello started Sunday with
a one-shot lead on a crowded leaderboard
that included 12 players within three
shots of the lead. Cabrera Bello stayed in
contention for most of the day, fi nishing
with a 71, but Cink and Crane both shot a
73. The leaderboard was a jumbled mess
through much of the fi nal round. At one
point, there were nine players tied
for the lead at 8-under before
Berger fi nally emerged
from the pile.
“I just hit so many
good shots coming
down the stretch
and I can’t even
explain,” Berger
said. “It’s just -- I
feel like I wasn’t
even on the golf
course. It just kind
of happened.” Phil
Mickelson briefl y
had a share of the lead
during the fi nal round,
but a triple bogey on No. 12
-- which included a shot into the
water -- knocked him out of contention. He
still shot a 68 and fi nished at 7-under, three
shots behind the leaders. Mickelson, who
is not expected to play in the U.S. Open
next week because of his oldest daughter’s
high school graduation, said he feels
good about how he’s playing
except when it comes to
between his ears. “The
good news is that my
physical game is
there and I should
be able to fi nd the
mental toughness
here soon,”
Mickelson said.
Thornberry shot
a 65 and became
the fi rst amateur to
fi nish in the top 10
at the St. Jude Classic
since 1965. Thornberry,
a sophomore at Mississippi
who is from nearby Olive Branch,
Mississippi, recently won the NCAA
individual championship with for the
school’s fi rst golf title.
What’s in the Daniel Berger ‘s Bag
Driver: Callaway GBB Epic (Fujikura Pro Tour Spec 53X shaft), 10.5 degrees
3-wood: Callaway GBB Epic (UST Mamiya Elements Chrome 7F5T shaft),
15 degrees
Irons: Callaway Apex CF ‘16 (3-4; True Temper Project X 6.5 shafts), Callaway
Apex Pro ‘16 (5-iron; True Temper Project X 6.5 shaft), Callaway MB1
(6-PW; True Temper Project X 6.5 shafts)
Wedges: Callaway Mack Daddy Forged (50-10, 56-10 and 58-08 degrees; True Temper
Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 shafts)
Putter: Odyssey Versa 2-Ball
Ball:
Callaway Chrome Soft
GolfPlus
JULY
2017
23