Berger was born in Plantation, Florida, to Jewish parents,[2][3] Nadia and Jay Berger, a former tennis pro (ranked seventh in the world in 1990), coach, and head of men's tennis for the United States Tennis Association.[2] His grandmother, Roslyn Swift Berger, was an accomplished amateur golfer who was inducted into the Greater Buffalo, New York Sports Hall of Fame in 2000.[2] He has two brothers and a sister.[4]
Berger grew up and lived in Key Biscayne, Florida for about thirteen years and began playing golf at age 10. He began taking lessons from PGA Master Professional, Kevin Perkins on a weekly basis and also attended Perkins' golf camp that summer and fell in love with the game. At that early age, Berger indicated to his father that he would like to become a professional golfer. Berger went on to have good success early, by finishing tie for 22nd in the US Kids International Championship, Boys, age 12, shooting rounds of 75, 79 and 75. Berger later moved with his family to Jupiter, Florida, where he also had his first hole-in-one at age 13.[5][4] He graduated from William T. Dwyer High School in 2011, though he did not play high school golf.[4]
In March 2015, Berger shot a 6-under-par 64 in the final round of the Honda Classic to get into a sudden-death playoff,[11] which he lost to Pádraig Harrington. Had Berger won, it would have been the second-largest final round comeback in PGA Tour history; he began the final round nine strokes behind 54-hole leader Ian Poulter.[12] Three weeks later at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Berger made a double eagle at the par-5 sixth hole during the third round.[13]
During the 2015 season, Berger made the cut in 17 of 31 events, had six top-10 finishes, including two seconds, and was the only rookie to make the Tour Championship field in late September. He finished 11th in the FedEx Cup rankings, 25th on the money list (earning over $3 million), and was the PGA Tour Rookie of the Year.[14][15][16]
At the beginning of the 2017 PGA Tour Season, Berger began using Callaway clubs and balls after switching over from TaylorMade, which he used in his first two seasons on tour. Later that season, Berger successfully defended his FedEx St. Jude Classic title, and moved to 24th in the world. By July, he was ranked 20th in the world.[5] He made the 2017 US Presidents Cup Team.[17]
On June 14, 2020, Berger won the 2020 Charles Schwab Challenge, and received a winner's check of $1.375 million.[19] This was the first PGA Tour tournament back after a three-month hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Berger won the tournament when Collin Morikawa missed a very short putt for par on the first playoff hole.[20] With the victory he was ranked No. 31 in the world.[20] He had a streak of 32 consecutive rounds at par or better in 2019–20, the eighth-longest streak since 1983, one round fewer than the streaks of Kenny Perry and Harris English.[17]
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
WD = Withdrew
NT = No tournament
"T" = Tied
Note that the Championship and Invitational were discontinued from 2022.
