Just last Sunday, a tree literally changed Brian Campbell’s life at the Mexico Open, his ball kicking off one back to safety in a playoff, helping him to victory. Four days later, a tree swallowed up Daniel Berger’s golf ball at the Cognizant Classic, literally. The trees giveth, and they taketh away. It’s true for both hackers and tour pros alike.
Berger’s day began at PGA National’s par-5 10th hole, which the entire field seems to be making birdie on. Even though he hit a wild drive left of the fairway, his birdie dreams surely weren’t dead. Knock one back out into the fairway, wedge one on and make a putt. That outcome was not out of the question.
But what Berger came to find out is that his ball wasn’t there to be simply punched out. His ball was stuck in one of the many palm trees lining the rough on the Champion course. This meant Berger had to make the cart ride of shame back to the 10th tee, where he’d be hitting three. Ouch.
With 234 metres left, Berger took aim at the green, hoping to make a miraculous up-and-down par. Instead, he flew the putting surface, bringing bogey and worse into play. Naturally, Berger chipped in for what is already the par of the week:
Daniel Berger’s first hole (No. 10) of Cognizant Classic:
• Tee shot gets stuck in a palm tree
• Third shot from tee box
• Approach from 256 yards goes over the green
• Chips in for par pic.twitter.com/hOXJmwxl5s— Underdog Golf (@Underdog__Golf) February 27, 2025
A nice lesson to all the kids out there – you are never out of a hole. Of course, it helps when you can fly a green from 234 metres away and rely on an all-world short game.
The sensational save propelled Berger to an eight-under 63 start, with the four-time PGA Tour winner currently sharing second place (albeit four shots adrift of Jake Knapp’s sparkling 59). It’s no wonder Justin Thomas has said multiple times that Berger is the one guy he can never win money from during their games in Florida. He’s the grinder’s grinder.
