Daniel Berger has posted a video of himself practising as hopes grow the former US Ryder Cup player is close to finally putting his injury nightmare behind him after slipping outside the top 250 in the World Rankings.
The Florida pro has won four times on the PGA Tour and banked over $23 million in prize money, but he has not played for over a year due to a back injury. Berger's last appearance was in the US Open at Brookline in 2022, where he missed the cut.
A painful back problem meant he needed ice baths just to be able to play before taking a break from the Tour, but now Berger looks to be on the comeback trail after filming a video on Instagram hitting a driver with the caption: "Back to work".
🚨#NEW: Daniel Berger teases his comeback on Instagram ⛳️👀 pic.twitter.com/tpNUCL5R4LAugust 25, 2023
The star's injury update will raise hopes he could be back in competitive action later this year. He first noticed a problem with his back in January 2022 at the Sentry Tournament of Champions, where, despite the issue, he finished tied for fifth.
He battled on and collected two more top-five finishes, before finally deciding to step away after the US Open. In early May, Berger explained to the Associated Press how bad the pain had become. He said: “That was the worst six months of my life. I’ve had a pretty easy life. I play golf for a living - it’s not that stressful. But there was a point that I would have given up golf for the rest of my life not to feel like that.”
Berger added: “I kept playing through it. It got to the point right around Augusta where I couldn’t sit down, I couldn’t do normal activities, I couldn’t play tennis. I needed to see someone about it. I tried to play the US Open. I was taking two ice baths a day to get on the course.”
After rest didn't improve his back, Berger was recommended Stuart McGill, a Canadian professor specialising in biometrics of the spine. He discovered a deep bone sensitivity and gave Berger a strength and conditioning program to follow which looks to be paying off.
The injury could hardly have come at a worse time for Berger who claimed his fourth PGA Tour win in February 2021 and finished tied for eighth at The Open in July that year.
Two months later, he also impressed in Team USA’s emphatic victory at Whistling Straits and, after reaching a career-high of 12th in October 2020, Berger remained inside the world’s top 20 throughout 2021. However, he is now languishing 265th but Berger, who is the son of Davis Cup tennis player and renowned coach, Jay Berger, has vowed: "I’ll come back with fire in my belly."
