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RBC Heritage: Top 10 power rankings at Harbour Town

By Mike Randleman

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, SC - APRIL 17: Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland (R) stands wtih his caddie during the second round of the Verizon Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links on April 17, 2009 in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, SC - APRIL 17: Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland (R) stands wtih his caddie during the second round of the Verizon Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links on April 17, 2009 in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /
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FORT WORTH, TEXAS – JUNE 14: Daniel Berger of the United States celebrates with the plaid jacket and Leonard trophy after defeating Collin Morikawa of the United States in a playoff during the final round of the Charles Schwab Challenge on June 14, 2020 at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
FORT WORTH, TEXAS – JUNE 14: Daniel Berger of the United States celebrates with the plaid jacket and Leonard trophy after defeating Collin Morikawa of the United States in a playoff during the final round of the Charles Schwab Challenge on June 14, 2020 at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /

Sunday’s leaderboard at the Charles Schwab Challenge was packed with big names. Daniel Berger, a two-time PGA Tour winner and former Rookie of the Year was right there, too. He just wasn’t getting much of the fanfare.

He wasn’t even prominently featured in the CBS broacast until the back nine. The 27-year-old kept chipping away at the two-shot deficit he faced at day’s beginning.

On a breezy day at Colonial, Berger stood up to the test by carding a 4-under 66 with just one bogey. He made a clutch 10’5″ birdie putt on 18 playing in the fourth to last group to get to 15-under and get into a playoff.

Berger got up and down from a tough lie just behind the green to make par on 18, while Collin Morikawa missed from short range on his par attempt.

Berger’s game has cratered the past two years due to persistent wrist issues. He posted three straight top-10s leading up to quarantine and kept the trend going despite a 13-week layoff.

Getting back in the winner’s circle was an emotional moment, even if he didn’t get to indulge in the roars of the galleries.

“I mean, you just never really know if you’re going to be in the same position again, ” Berger said in a transcript from ASAP Sports, “so to be able to come out here and beat so many of the best players in the world, you look at the field that was out here this week, and I don’t have a stellar playoff record, so to show up here and obviously I didn’t want to win it like that (with Morikawa’s missed putt), but sometimes that’s just the way golf works.”

The Floridian Berger should be used to putting on Bermuda greens this week at Harbour Town. This will be his third RBC Heritage start after posting T-72nd in 2015 (72-68-75-72) and T-33 in 2019 (68-69-72-74).

The former Florida State Seminole’s stats this season don’t show any particular strength or weakness. He’s no worse than 62nd in any strokes gained category.

I don’t expect Berger to catch lightning in a bottle and win twice in a row, but he’ll ride the wave to post his best finish in this event with ease.

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