2024 American Express – Page 3

Why did the PGA Tour’s American Express break tradition and give an exemption to an amateur?

He’s played in the last two U.S. Opens and the 2023 Butterfield Bermuda Championship.

The American Express golf tournament rarely gives one of its coveted sponsor exemptions to an amateur, but Nick Dunlap is a rare amateur.

Dunlap, a 20-year-old sophomore at the University of Alabama, won the U.S. Amateur last year in Denver and two years after he won the U.S. Junior Amateur at Pinehurst in 2021. Only one other golfer has pulled off the U.S. Junior Amateur-U.S. Amateur double: A guy named Tiger Woods.

This week’s PGA event, which begins Thursday in La Quinta, California, will be the fourth professional event Dunlap has played in. He’s played in the last two U.S. Opens and the 2023 Butterfield Bermuda Championship. So even though he’s performed on the sport’s biggest stage, he’s still thrilled to get the invite to The American Express.

More: 2024 The American Express Thursday tee times, how to watch

“It’s really cool, and not just because I was able to get out of some unfortunate weather back home,” Dunlap said Wednesday after playing in the pro-am. “The American Express has given me a great opportunity. I get to play three really good golf courses. The weather’s beautiful and you get to play against the best players. It’s always cool to see how you stack up against the best.”

Nick Dunlap practices on the driving range at PGA West during practice day of The American Express in La Quinta, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024.

Tournament executive director Pat McCabe said giving Dunlap one of the event’s eight sponsor’s exemptions was a pretty easy call.

“I just think it’s important to give these decorated young players opportunities like this,” McCabe said. “It will be fun to see him out there playing with the pros at a PGA event. We’re excited to have him here.”

Dunlap did not make the cut in his other three pro tournaments, so that’s a streak he’d like to see end this week. He feels like his game suits the three courses used in the event, and his secret weapon on the bag is former assistant coach Hunter Hamrick.

“Hunter knows my game really well and I think we have a good gameplan, so we have to just go do us,” Dunlap said. “I think my game stacks up well out here. I feel like I’m a solid putter and as good as these greens are … I mean everybody hits it good at this level, so it might come down to a putting contest. Just kind of looking forward to it. Feeling good.”

If there was any ounce of intimidation playing with a pro, it went away once he saw his pairing. Dunlap is paired with Wilson Furr, a fellow Alabama alum who just got his PGA Tour card this year after a successful season on the Korn Ferry Tour. In fact, Furr has also only played in three PGA events.

Dunlap and Furr are part of a large contingent of players in the Alabama fraternity at the event this year, a group that also includes major winner Justin Thomas as well as Davis Riley, Robby Shelton and Lee Hodges. For the record, no University of Alabama player has ever won this event.

“Yeah, there’s a lot of us, and when I saw I was playing with Wilson Furr, I’ve played a lot of golf with him so it should be a comfortable matchup for us. Should be fun,” Dunlap said.

While Dunlap is excited to be in the desert this week, it won’t be his last pro event of 2024. His U.S. Amateur win qualifies him for the Masters. He’s never played Augusta National, and said it’s something he’s been thinking about a lot since he qualified.

“It’s pretty dang cool, I’m not gonna lie, and I know I’ll be playing with Jon Rahm the first two days, so that’s big, too,” Dunlap said. “All I’ve heard is that Augusta is a different beast, so I’m looking forward to experiencing that.”

Shad Powers is a columnist for The Desert Sun. Reach him at shad.powers@desertsun.com.

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World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler enjoys return to desert at 2024 American Express

“Come here to the desert, there’s not many conditions, you get a really good gauge of where my game’s at.”

LA QUINTA, Calif. — Scottie Scheffler remembers how two good days at the American Express tournament in 2022 may have started him on his climb to the No. 1 spot in the world rankings.

“I was outside the cut line by maybe three shots with three holes to go over on Stadium Course (at PGA West), and I chipped in for eagle on 16, and made a 30-footer for birdie on 18 to make the cut on the number,” Scheffler said. “Then I went out on Sunday and had a really good round (a 67), I finished 20th or 25th, something like that.

“It kind of jumpstarted the rest of my year,” Scheffler said. “I think I played Torrey Pines the next week, and won in Phoenix a couple weeks after that, and kind of started my run there in 2022.”

That run included four wins including the Masters in 2022 and is a big reason Scheffler returns to the 65th annual the American Express this week as the No. 1 player in the world golf rankings and a two-time PGA Tour player of the year.

American Express: Thursday tee times

Scheffler is one of 155 pros and one amateur, U.S. Amateur champion Nick Dunlap, who begin play Thursday at three different golf courses in La Quinta — the Pete Dye Stadium Course and Nicklaus Tournament Course at PGA West and La Quinta Country Club. The pro field will be joined by 156 amateurs for the first three days, with the pros only playing the Stadium Course on Sunday for the $8.4 million purse.

Not included in the field is Jon Rahm, the 2023 American Express champion who announced last month he has joined the LIV Tour, disqualifying him from PGA Tour events. It’s the second year in a row the American Express has lacked a defending champion, with 2022 winner Hudson Swafford also joining the LIV Tour before the 2023 event. It marks just the third time the defending champions has not played in the event’s 65-year history.

Without Rahm, the tournament still has three of the top six players in the world ranking, including Scheffler, No. 5 Xander Schauffele and No. 6 Patrick Cantlay. Also in the field is reigning U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark and high-profile players including Rickie Fowler, Tony Finau, Jason Day, Justin Thomas, Shane Lowry and Matt Kuchar. In all, nine of the top 25 and 21 of the top 50 in the world rankings will tee off in La Quinta.

Also in the field are the winners of the first two tournaments of the season, Chris Kirk (The Sentry) and Grayson Murray (The Sony Open). Without Rahm, the event has seven past champions in the field.

The tournament also features two concerts on the practice range at PGA West this week as country star Keith Urban will play Friday and rock group Train on Saturday. The concerts begin after play on those days, about 5 p.m. local time.

Loving the desert vibe

The American Express is Scheffler’s second start in the new schedule for 2024 after a fifth-place finish at The Sentry in Hawaii two weeks ago. Scheffler said the La Quinta tournament is a great place to start a year.

“Kapalua (The Sentry) is a great, fun event, but you don’t really get a good feel for where your game is at. You’re playing on the side of a volcano, basically, and the wind’s blowing hard, and it’s a different type of golf course,” Scheffler said. “Come here to the desert, there’s not many conditions, you get a really good gauge of where my game’s at going into the rest of the year.”

The American Express has a reputation of low scores, with Rahm winning at 27 under last year. Scheffler said low scores early in the year don’t scare him. The four-day scoring record is 28 under by Patrick Reed in 2014, but that came on two courses that are no longer in the three-course rotation.

“Usually at the beginning of the year I’m excited to go out and make birdies and not bogeys, so it’s nice coming into tournaments where you got to make birdies,” Scheffler said with a smile. “But just like any golf course, you got to be precise. I feel like on the easier courses on tour, you can’t really get behind, just because it’s so much harder to catch up.”

In his four previous starts in the American Express, Scheffler has posted a third in 2020, a 25th in 22 and an 11th-place finish last year.

Scheffler was first ranked No. 1 in the world in his breakout four-win 2022 season, and he has been No. 1 for the last 35 weeks. While this is the first time Scheffler has been No. 1 at the start of a season, he said he tries not to focus on that position.

“Wherever I sit at in the world rankings doesn’t really affect how I’m going to play this week,” Scheffler said. “Still going out and trying to play good and win the tournament. I feel like I harp on preparation a lot, and so when I show up to tournaments I want to be as prepared as possible.

“Then, when I step up on the first tee, I have a little conversation with myself, that I did everything that I could do to play good this week,” he added.

Brandel Chamblee to serve as NBC Sports lead analyst for 2024 American Express coverage

A familiar face will be in the booth.

As NBC Sports continues its search for a full-time analyst to work alongside Dan Hicks in the booth for its coverage of the PGA Tour, a familiar name will be in the seat at this week’s American Express in La Quinta, California.

Brandel Chamblee will assume the role of lead analyst for this week’s coverage. Terry Gannon will have play-by-play duties, as the duo will lead the coverage on Golf Channel and Peacock.

Four-time PGA Tour winner Kevin Kisner was in the booth at The Sentry, and longtime analyst Curt Byrum took over last week at the Sony Open in Hawaii as NBC Sports looks to fill the role formerly occupied by Paul Azinger.

Paul McGinley called the action at the Hero World Challenge in early December. Chamblee is the latest in what appears to be a rotating cast of characters, but he has appeared plenty before for NBC Sports, including at the Open Championship.

Chamblee has become a figurehead in the PGA Tour vs. LIV Golf debate with his staunch defense of the PGA Tour, and he even got into a social media debate in recent weeks about commercial load for events on television.

Golf Channel and Peacock will air live coverage of the American Express from 4-7 p.m. ET from Thursday to Saturday.

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Once trusted with launching nuclear weapons, Tom Whitney now navigates rookie PGA Tour season

“I wouldn’t trade it for getting here any sooner, I think the timing is perfect.”

LA QUINTA, Calif. — For Tom Whitney, the struggles of a 34-year-old rookie on the PGA Tour come into focus because of his time in the U.S. Air Force as a nuclear missile operator. He literally was the person who could launch such a weapon if the President of the United States called.

“Golf is just what I am currently doing, and I’m completely blessed to do it. But I could still be in the Air Force, at a place I don’t want to be,” Whitney said Tuesday afternoon as he prepared for the first PGA Tour start of his rookie year at the American Express, just six miles from where he attended La Quinta High School.

“I could be in harm’s way,” Whitney said. “I could be fighting enemies. I’ve lost friends and loved ones in the armed forces. I have friends that are deployed. And I’m here in Palm Springs with two miles per hour wind, 75 degrees, getting paid to play these fantastic golf courses. Absolutely, I have a different perspective.”

Whitney played college golf at the Air Force Academy before serving his four-year stint in the military. He has become as well known for his old job in a bunker in Wyoming overseeing nuclear missiles as for his golf game. But his golf was good enough on the Korn Ferry Tour last season to earn him a full PGA Tour exemption which begins this week at the American Express on golf courses he played as a junior.

“I was a little bummed I didn’t get into the field in Sony (Open in Hawaii) and get my year started last week, but the silver lining is I get to make my debut here in my hometown in front of a hometown crowd,” Whitney said. “I’m pretty comfortable at this place.”

Whitney’s only PGA Tour check in three career starts came in the 2018 American Express, a start that came after a late sponsor exemption on a Sunday night and a frantic cross-country flight from Miami to the Coachella Valley. Whitney finished tied for 67th that week to earn $12,095.

Tom Whitney practices putting on the ninth green of the Pete Dye Stadium course at PGA West during a practice round for The American Express in La Quinta, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024.

That one PGA Tour check has been surrounded by years on mini-tours, the PGA Tour Latinoamericas and several seasons of fighting conditional status on the Korn Ferry Tour. Throughout that time, though, Whitney was able to see things in a different perspective because of his military service.

“I signed up to basically say I’m willing to give my life for this country, and never came anywhere close to that point,” he said. “But I mean, that’s kind of what you’re agreeing to when you join the military. Just understanding that, like, man, there’s tough days out (on the tour), but in the grand scheme of things, I get to play golf for a living, I get to represent some awesome companies, I get to do what I love, and pretty much have control over my schedule and what I do day-to-day. So, yeah, it’s definitely fixed my perspective on life.”

Ready to launch

Whitney’s military job sounds like something straight out of an action-adventure movie, though he admits a 24-hole shift in a bunker in Wyoming could be relatively routine and even boring. But Whitney acknowledges the main purpose of the bunker wasn’t lost on anyone.

“Ultimately, our main training part of the mission is we are the ones that launch the missile if the President sends the order,” Whitney said. “And it goes from the President to the USSTRATCOM (U.S. Strategic Air Command), USSTRATCOM to us. So, there’s only one entity in between us and the President, if we are launching a nuclear missile.”

American Express: Thursday tee times

No launch code was ever sent to Whitney or the others who controlled the missiles. When he wasn’t in the bunker, Whitney was back in Colorado, working on his game and planning a career in golf that never really dawned on him before he graduated from La Quinta High School in 2006.

“I had five individual titles during my tenure (at the Air Force Academy playing in the Mountain West Conference),” Whitney said. “I had a pretty impressive string of top 10s, either my sophomore or junior year. Then, my senior year I spent a good chunk of time in the top-25 individual rankings.

“It was at that point that I truly knew like, okay, I’m going to honor my commitment to the Air Force,” he said. “I’m going to finish that out, and then I’m going to give golf a go, because I can’t not try and be able to live with myself if I didn’t do it.”

Success didn’t come quickly for Whitney, though he did win an E Golf Tour event about seven days after leaving the military at Avondale Golf Club in Palm Desert.

“That was just pretty cool validation of me stepping away from a full-time job with guaranteed promotions, guaranteed salary, benefits, all that jazz, to chase the little white ball,” he said. “For me to win my first tournament out was, yeah, validation that I was on the right path for the time being.”

Tom Whitney during a practice round on the Pete Dye Stadium course at PGA West ahead of the 2024 American Express in La Quinta, California. (Photo: Taya Gray/The Desert Sun)

The lessons learned chasing a full PGA Tour exemption feel different for Whitney now than they would have 10 years ago.

“I’m looking back at a lot of pieces of advice I received from veterans and they kind of went in one ear and out the other, and you don’t really internalize those until you live it and experience it yourself,” Whitney said. “I mean, kudos to the young guys that have already figured it out at this point, but, yeah, I’ve learned a lot in my 10 years.

“I wouldn’t trade it for getting here any sooner, I think the timing is perfect,” Whitney added. “God’s got me right where I’m supposed to be. Yeah, just looking forward to entering my prime.”

Whitney, who now lives in Dallas with his wife, an Air Force reservist herself, and their four kids, earned his way onto the PGA Tour with a 21st-place finish in the 2023 Korn Ferry season-long points race and a 20th-place finish on the money list. While Whitney made the cut in just 13 of 23 starts on the Korn Ferry Tour, he had one second-place finish and two third-place efforts among his six top-10s.

There are days, Whitney admits, he misses being in the Air Force, his friends in the military and even his old job.

“It’s not a sexy job while you’re doing it, and at times it can not even be very enjoyable,” he said. “But I’ll tell you, it didn’t take very long after I separated and left that job and started golf full-time to where I missed it. I completely misgauged what I had, and you think the grass is literally greener as you’re entering the career of golf, and, man, I had it easy.

“People told me where I had to be, when I had to be there, what I had to wear, how long I had to be there for, what I was going to get paid. I pretty much knew what I was going to be fed. I mean, all the hard decisions were made for me,” Whitney said with a smile. “I just kind of had to follow a checklist.”

Check the yardage book: PGA West’s Pete Dye Stadium Course for the PGA Tour’s 2024 American Express

StrackaLine offers a hole-by-hole guide for the Pete Dye Stadium Course for the American Express.

PGA West’s Pete Dye Stadium Course – one of three courses used for the PGA Tour’s 2024 The American Express in La Quinta, California – opened in 1986 with a design by the legendary architect whose name appears in the layout’s title.

The 7,187-yard, par-72 Stadium Course is the main track for this week’s event, hosting each player for one of the first three rounds as well as Sunday’s final round. The other two courses used in the first three rounds are La Quinta Country Club (7,060 yards, par 72) and PGA West’s Nicklaus Tournament Course (7,147 yards, par 72). All the players have one round on each course before the cut is made for Sunday’s final round.

The Stadium Course ranks No. 11 in California on Golfweek’s Best list of top public-access courses, and the Nicklaus Tournament Course ties for No. 21 in the state on that list.

Worth noting, La Quinta Country Club has undergone a two-year renovation in which all the greens have been replaced. Also, the Pete Dye Stadium course will wrap up a multi-year restoration later in 2024.

Thanks to yardage books provided by StrackaLine – the maker of detailed yardage books for thousands of courses around the world – we can see exactly the challenges the pros face this week on the Stadium Course. Check out the maps of each hole below.

2024 The American Express Thursday tee times, how to watch

Everything you need to know for the first round from La Quinta and PGA West.

After a two-week swing through the Hawaiian islands to kick off the 2023 calendar year, the PGA Tour is bound for PGA West and La Quinta, California, this week for the 2024 The American Express.

Held across the Pete Dye Stadium Course, Nicklaus Tournament Course and La Quinta Country Club, the AmEx has once again produced a strong field with a handful of featured pairings worth keeping an eye on, including Rickie Fowler/Justin Thomas, Xander Schauffele/Tony Finau and Scottie Scheffler/Patrick Cantlay. Defending champion Jon Rahm is not in the field after his move to LIV Golf.

From tee times to TV and streaming info, here’s everything you need to know for Thursday’s opening round of the 2024 The American Express. All times listed are ET.

MORE: The American Express odds, picks to win

La Quinta Country Club

1st tee

Time	Players
11:30 a.m.	Adam Long, Ryan Palmer
11:41 a.m.	Xander Schauffele, Tony Finau
11:52 a.m.	Pierceson Coody, Adrien Dumont De Chassart
12:03 p.m.	Ben Griffin, Davis Thompson
12:14 p.m.	Scottie Scheffler, Patrick Cantlay
12:25 p.m.	Ben Kohles, Ryo Hisatsune
12:36 p.m.	Greyson Sigg, Justin Suh
12:47 p.m.	Zach Johnson, Brandt Snedeker
12:58 p.m.	Chris Kirk, Wyndham Clark
1:09 p.m.	Vince Whaley, Robert MacIntyre
1:20 p.m	Akshay Bhatia, Nico Echavarria
1:31 p.m.	Rickie Fowler, Justin Thomas
1:42 p.m.	Taiga Semikawa, Jacob Bridgeman

10th tee

Time	Players
11:30 a.m.	Charley Hoffman, Kevin Streelman
11:41 a.m.	Shane Lowry, Jason Day
11:52 a.m.	Jake Knapp, Ben Silverman
12:03 p.m.	Bill Haas, Chesson Hadley
12:14 p.m.	Sam Burns, Eirk Barnes
12:25 p.m.	Parker Coody, John Pak
12:36 p.m.	Michael Kim, Maverick McNealy
12:47 p.m.	Aaron Rai, Ben Taylor
12:58 p.m.	Tom Hoge, Si Woo Kim
1:09 p.m.	Brandon Wu, Will Gordon
1:20 p.m	Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Alex Noren
1:31 p.m.	Erik van Rooyen, K.H. Lee
1:42 p.m.	Kevin Dougherty, Alexander Bjork

PGA West – Nicklaus Tournament

1st tee

Time	Players
11:30 a.m.	Carl Yuan, Callum Tarren
11:41 a.m.	Davis Riley, Matt Wallace
11:52 a.m.	Jimmy Stranger, Blaine Hale Jr.
12:03 p.m.	Andrew Novak, Matti Schmid
12:14 p.m.	Jason Dufner, Andrew Landry
12:25 p.m.	Ryan McCormick, Joe Highsmith
12:36 p.m.	Dylan Wu, Robby Shelton
12:47 p.m.	David Lingmerth, Kevin Yu
12:58 p.m.	Ryan Moore, Joseph Bramlett
1:09 p.m.	Max Greyserman, Raul Pereda
1:20 p.m	Zac Blair, David Lipsky
1:31 p.m.	Matt Kuchar, Nick Taylor
1:42 p.m.	Roger Sloan, Scott Gutschewski

10th tee

Time	Players
11:30 a.m.	Taylor Montgomery, Austin Eckroat
11:41 a.m.	Sungjae Im, Cameron Champ
11:52 a.m.	Alejandro Tosti, Rico Hoey
12:03 p.m.	Troy Merritt, Josh Teater
12:14 p.m.	Andrew Putnam, Cam Davis
12:25 p.m.	Matthieu Pavon, Paul Barjon
12:36 p.m.	Stephan Jaeger, Matt NeSmith
12:47 p.m.	Keith Mitchell, Joel Dahmen
12:58 p.m.	Adam Hadwin, Taylor Pendrith
1:09 p.m.	Chris Gotterup, Chan Kim
1:20 p.m	Justin Lower, Alex Smalley
1:31 p.m.	Tom Kim, Min Woo Lee
1:42 p.m.	Wilson Furr, Nick Dunlap

PGA West – Dye Stadium

1st tee

Time	Players
11:30 a.m.	Mark Hubbard, Hayden Buckley
11:41 a.m.	Scott Stallings, Lee Hodges
11:52 a.m.	Hayden Springer, Harrison Endycott
12:03 p.m.	Sam Ryder, Peter Malnati
12:14 p.m.	Chez Reavie, Kevin Kisner
12:25 p.m.	Sami Valimaki, David Skinns
12:36 p.m.	Aaron Baddeley, Thomas Detry
12:47 p.m.	Eric Cole, Adam Schenk
12:58 p.m.	Billy Horschel, Camilo Villegas
1:09 p.m.	Tom Whitney, Trace Crowe
1:20 p.m	Will Zalatoris, Daniel Berger
1:31 p.m.	J.T. Poston, Grayson Murray
1:42 p.m.	Norman Xiong, Michael Block

10th tee

Time	Players
11:30 a.m.	Harry Hall, Sam Stevens
11:41 a.m.	Ryan Brehm, Chad Ramey
11:52 a.m.	Patrick Fishburn, Yuxin Lin
12:03 p.m.	S.H. Kim, Tyson Alexander
12:14 p.m.	Martin Laird, Lanto Griffin
12:25 p.m.	James Hahn, Nicholas Lindheim
12:36 p.m.	Garrick Higgo, Doug Ghim
12:47 p.m.	Ben Martin, Beau Hossler
12:58 p.m.	Tyler Duncan, Patton Kizzire
1:09 p.m.	Nate Lashley, Carson Young
1:20 p.m	Bronson Burgoon, Tyler McCumber
1:31 p.m.	J.B. Holmes, Jhonattan Vegas
1:42 p.m.	Mac Meissner, Chandler Phillips

How to watch, listen

ESPN+ is the exclusive home of PGA Tour Live. You can also watch Golf Channel free on Fubo. All times ET.

Thursday, Jan. 25

Golf Channel/Peacock: 4-7 p.m.

Sirius XM: 1-7 p.m

ESPN+: 11:30 a.m.-7 p.m

Friday, Jan. 26

Golf Channel/Peacock: 4-7 p.m

Sirius XM: 1-7 p.m

ESPN+: 11:30 a.m.-7 p.m

Saturday, Jan. 27

Golf Channel/Peacock: 4-7 p.m

Sirius XM: 2-7 p.m

ESPN+: 11:30 a.m.-7 p.m

Sunday, Jan. 28

Golf Channel/Peacock: 4-7 p.m.

Sirius XM: 2-7 p.m.

ESPN+: 11:30 a.m.-7 p.m.

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The American Express 2024 odds, course history and picks to win

Schauffele finished T-3 at last year’s American Express.

After a few weeks on the islands of Hawaii, the PGA Tour has made its way to the mainland for The American Express at PGA West in La Quinta, California.

A loaded field will tee it up for the third event of 2024, including world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele, Justin Thomas, Tom Kim, Sam Burns, Tony Finau and Jason Day.

Scheffler, the betting favorite at +550, tied for 11th at PGA West last season and is coming off a T-5 performance at The Sentry.

Defending champion Jon Rahm isn’t in the field due to his recent move to LIV Golf.

Three courses will be used over the first three rounds — Pete Dye Stadium Course, Nicklaus Tournament Course and La Quinta Country Club — before the final round is played at the Stadium Course.

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Golf courses

Pete Dye Stadium Course | Par 72 | 7,187 yards
Nicklaus Tournament Course | Par 72 | 7,147 yards
LA Quinta County Club | Par 72 | 7,060 yards

Betting preview

The hilarious story of how Daniel Berger hired his caddie for the American Express

Daniel Berger is returning to the PGA Tour but the better story may be who will be carrying his bag.

HONOLULU – Daniel Berger is set to make his return to the PGA Tour after an 18-month absence Thursday at the American Express in La Quinta, California. But the better story may be who will be carrying his bag.

Berger is set to have veteran caddie D.J. Nelson, who was on the bag for Heath Slocum when he won the 2009 Barclays, working for him in the desert. Nelson, who also has caddied for the likes of Chad Campbell and Hudson Swafford in the past, however, hasn’t been caddying on Tour for several years.

So, why did Berger turn to Nelson, who began caddying in 2001?

Here’s where the story gets good. Berger phoned Nelson and attempted to hire him. According to multiple sources – Berger didn’t return a call for comment at publication of this story – when Nelson accepted, Berger expressed surprise and asked, “So, you’re going to give up doing the TV?”

A perplexed Nelson responded, “Who do you think you’re talking to?”

“John Wood,” Berger said.

Wood, of course, is the former caddie of Hunter Mahan and Matt Kuchar, among others, turned NBC/Golf Channel on-course reporter. One of the most respected caddies in the game, he retired and joined the TV world in 2021 and said this week at the Sony Open, where he’s been working, that he’s happy with his new gig carrying a microphone instead of 14 clubs.

When Berger realized his mistake in dialing the wrong number, he didn’t blink and offered Nelson the job – at least for one week at the AmEx.

As one former caddie put it, “Classic Berger.” But maybe Berger knew something after all: Nelson has a good track record at PGA West including being on the bag for Swafford when he won there in 2017.

The 30-year-old Berger, a four-time Tour winner, has been sidelined with a back injury since missing the cut at the 2022 U.S. Open. He had been nursing the injury, which he described to the Associated Press as being a slight bulge in a lower disc and deep bone sensitivity, for most of that year. He signed up for U.S. Open qualifying in June but pulled out before he hit a shot.

Berger was a member of the victorious U.S. Ryder Cup team at Whistling Straits that year and was sorely missed in Italy in September. He was ranked No. 25 in the world when he last played and has since dropped to No. 634. He still has exempt status through 2024 from notching his last win at the 2021 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, but isn’t qualified yet for the signature events or majors.

“When I come back, I’ll come back with fire in my belly,” he told the AP in May.

And with a surprising caddie by his side.

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Daniel Berger, who hasn’t played since 2022, will play in 2024 American Express

Berger hasn’t played since the 2022 U.S. Open at The Country Club.

According to a report from Golf Channel, Daniel Berger, who hasn’t played on the PGA Tour since the 2022 U.S. Open at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts, due to a back injury has entered the field for the American Express, Jan. 18-21, in La Quinta, California.

The PGA Tour later confirmed the move.

Berger now ranks 634th in the Official World Golf Ranking and will be playing of a major medical extension.

The 30-year-old has four wins on Tour with the latest coming at the 2021 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. He’s also represented the United States at two team events, the 2017 Presidents Cup and the 2021 Ryder Cup.

Berger has recently been posting videos practicing again on social media.

Daniel Berger (Back) is out practicing again. Last we heard from him he planned on returning to the PGA Tour at the beginning of the 2023 Fall Swing. 🤷 @NUCLRGOLF pic.twitter.com/W7Psbd5UJS

— GOLF INJURY REPORT (@InjuryReportPGA) January 11, 2024

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