they did by placing a knee-high obstacle outside his lead leg. That encouraged him to post up instead of sliding. Berger now rotates more aggressively around to the left ( above, sixth and seventh images ) and that move frees him up to hit a piercing cut off the tee. It’s a big reason why Berger ranked 15th in total driving and 25th in driving accuracy (66.4 percent) on the PGA Tour in 2025. “A healthy Daniel Berger was top 12 in the world,” Blackburn says. “These adjustments will keep him healthy and allow him to be that player again.”
Pro-Am in February 2021. “I had to rewire my brain from all that muscle memory I had built up since I was 11.”
For seven months while recovering, Berger didn’t hit a single ball. Then, with the help of Blackburn and his trainer, Golf Digest Chief Fitness Advisor Ben Shear, the four-time PGA Tour winner began attacking each of these flaws incrementally, starting with his posture. He returned to the PGA Tour full time in January 2024. “It’s a very long process when you’re used to swinging the club the same way for 20-plus years,” says Berger, 32, whose two runner-up finishes in 2024 (RSM Classic) and 2025 (Phoenix) were his best since winning the AT&T Pebble Beach
IN THE SHORT GRASS Berger is hitting more fairways now.
Step one was to neutralise the arch in his back at address. Then they sig- nificantly reduced the amount of torso extension and arm lift in his backswing by steepening his shoulder turn ( above, fourth image ). This helped bring the club up more, so he didn’t overswing and fall into a reverse pivot. The final piece was to reduce the amount of lateral movement, which
GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA 53
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2026
Made with FlippingBook interactive PDF creator