Daniel Berger fires 62 to take lead at Travelers Championship
CROMWELL, Conn. – When Daniel Berger was home recovering from a shoulder injury he made sure to send a few texts to Davis Love III letting the United States Ryder Cup captain know it was not a season-ending setback.
Berger showed plenty of fight Saturday at TPC River Highlands, creating some separation from the field with an 8-under 62 round to take the lead at the Travelers Championship at 15-under.
“I’ve shot better than 62, but I guess it doesn’t matter if it’s not on the PGA Tour,” said Berger, who finished with nine birdies and one bogey. “It was a great day.”
Russell Knox, Tyrone Van Aswegen and Russell Henley are three shots back at 12-under and Patrick Rodgers sits at 10-under.
Berger, who birdied seven of the last 11 holes, has been idle much of the summer after he pulled out of the World Golf Classic-Bridgestone Invitational in early July because of shoulder discomfort. He returned last week at the PGA Championship and finished tied for 73rd.
In addition to trying to win a second tournament, Berger also has sights on next month’s Ryder Cup. He entered the week 18th in the standings, and with more than a one million points after with a win, could get close to the top 10.
“Captain Love has text me a few times because I want to keep him informed of where I am at,” said Berger, whose father, Jay, played on the 1988 and ’90 U.S. Davis Cup tennis teams. “I want to play in the Ryder Cup. My dad played in the Davis Cup … I think it would be pretty cool to have father/son play Davis Cup/Ryder Cup.”
It’s the largest third-round lead at the Travelers since Justin Rose led by as many shots in 2010 before shooting a 75 in the final round. Bubba Watson came from six shots back to win that year in a playoff and Rose ended up tied for ninth.
“I think that’s the beauty of this golf course, it’s not that easy,” said Paul Casey, who is tied for sixth at 9-under with Brooks Koepka. “Guys made it look easy today, but it’s not that easy.
“But the pressure is nicely on Mr. Berger and not on everybody else.”
In his first career victory back in June at the FedEx St. Jude Classic, Berger carried a three-shot lead into the finals and held off several of the world’s top players, including Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson.
“I just have to go have some fun,” Berger said. “For me it was only two tournaments ago, seven or eight weeks ago. I’m just going to keep doing what I’ve been doing the last couple days, hopefully make a few putts, that’s all I can do.”
United States Olympians Bubba Watson and Patrick Reed played together for the third straight day, with each shooting 2-under to move to 5-under overall.
The twosome along with Matt Kuchar, who shot 1-over to fall to 3-under overall, will fly to Rio together after the final round to join Rickie Fowler.
“It gives me goose bumps seeing Rickie being interviewed,” said Watson, who wore his opening night Olympic outfit to a Friday fundraiser in Hartford. “It makes me want to be down there more. I can’t wait to get down there, and hopefully, everything goes safely and we play all four days and I can be a true Olympian.”