Daniel Berger becomes king of Colonial after Collin Morikawa misses tiddler

Daniel Berger won the first PGA Tour event after the coronavirus suspension, the Floridian beating Collin Morikawa in a Charles Schwab Challenge playoff, landing a 66-1 success for his backers.

After 91 days of inactivity, the PGA Tour burst into life last Thursday when all 148 runners in the Colonial Country Club line-up tested negative for Covid-19, and a thrilling tournament unfolded at the historic Texas venue.

Jon Rahm and Dustin Johnson missed the halfway cut, but Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Xander Schauffele and Bryson DeChambeau contended for the title. McIlroy slumped to a final-round 74 to blow his chance and finish 32nd – the first time this year that he has ended up outside the top five.

Thomas tied for tenth place, while Schauffele and DeChambeau claimed a share of third spot. Schauffele looked the likely champion for a long way, but a short par-putt lipped out at the 17th hole of the final round to leave him one shot shy. DeChambeau also bogeyed the 17th, meaning Berger and Morikawa contested the extra holes.

A par was enough for Berger to win the playoff when Morikawa missed a tiddler. Berger had been in stellar form prior to the PGA Tour suspension and his last four starts have yielded progressive results of 9-5-4-1, but his previous Colonial efforts of MC-53 were off-putting for punters.

The circuit moves to South Carolina this week for the RBC Heritage at the Harbour Town Links. Berger goes to post again, joined by McIlroy, Rahm, Johnson, Thomas, Schauffele, DeChambeau, Morikawa and Brooks Koepka.

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