Daniel Berger NOT ALLOWED to play in The Masters over strange ruling

Berger is the World No.13... but that means nothing when it comes to The Masters this November! 

Andy Roberts's picture
Tue, 1 Sep 2020
Daniel Berger will NOT play in The Masters over strange ruling

If you thought Sophia Popov's refused five-year exemption on the LPGA after having won the AIG Women's British Open was a strange one, you will be flabbergasted to learn that Daniel Berger - the current World No.13 and one of the hottest players on the planet right now - will not be eligible to compete at The Masters this November. 

Berger, 27, has picked up seven top-10 finishes in his last 10 starts on the PGA Tour and won the very first event of golf's restart in June at the Charles Schwab Challenge in a playoff over PGA champion Collin Morikawa. 

But despite the American's red-hot play over recent months, it will matter little when arguably golf's greatest tournament swings around from November 12 to 15 as Berger is ineligible to compete for his first Green Jacket. 

With The Masters being reshuffled back to November, tournament officials have decided to hold the field as it would have been declared had the tournament taken place in its normal April slot. Therefore, the 96 golfers that qualified for The Masters remain qualified - of which Berger is not one of them. 

Prior to the coronavirus pandemic halting the Tour's schedule and Berger landing his third PGA Tour title at the Charles Schwab Challenge in May, he was ranked 106th in the world rankings and outside of the qualification criteria to tee it up at Augusta National. 

 

 

"I don’t know if I could say I deserve a spot, but I feel like I’m playing well enough to earn a spot into the Masters," said Berger, who has finished 10th, 27th and 32nd in his three previous Masters appearances. 

While understandably frustrated about not being able to play in the tournament, Berger's father Jay does not believe it will faze his son.

"Daniel is pretty good at not worrying about things that are out of his control," Jay Berger.

"He has a lot of respect for Augusta National and the way they do things. The way he’s been playing, I don’t think it’s bothering him."

Berger won't have to wait too much longer to get his next crack at Augusta with the 2021 Masters back in its regular slot of April. 

The three-time PGA Tour winner is in contention for the FedEx Cup this week as he starts the Tour Championship six strokes behind Dustin Johnson on 4-under par. 

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